Holidays

The christmas season is already upon us! We have our sweet tree up, decorated by my good friends at our holiday open house a few weeks ago (a grant total of 25 visitors, what a success!).

To celebrate the holidays, I will share with you my favorite christmas poem "little tree" by e.e. cummings:

little tree

little silent Christmas tree

you are so little

you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest

and were you very sorry to come away?

see i will comfort you

because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark

and hug you safe and tight

just as your mother would,

only don't be afraid

look the spangles

that sleep all the year in a dark box

dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,

the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms

and i'll give them all to you to hold

every finger shall have its ring

and there won't be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you're quite dressed

you'll stand in the window for everyone to see

and how they'll stare!

oh but you'll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands

and looking up at our beautiful tree

we'll dance and sing

"Noel Noel"

Oh my dear Baby Jesus, PLEASE LET BARACK OBAMA WIN!

I'm so bad at updating this thing. It's October now, just barely, but the weather in Seattle seems to know it. We went from cloudless 70-80 degree days to 65, to 60, now, with a constant drizzle at least a third of the time. Typical. And the sun, which once set at 9:30, has shot down to 6:30, and will be barely 4 by the time school ends. That's what gets me the most.

It being fall, I've been watching my Cubbies in full force. They made it to the top of their group, and had one of (actually, I think THE) best season since 1945. I was, as a perrenial Cubs fan, hopeful. Things did not work out well as planned. I didn't even watch the first game, because I was so sure of a win. Imagine my surprise at seeing a sizable loss. After the VP debate, Mark, our friend Mark C., and I went to a pub down the street, and Game 2 was on. It wasn't pretty, and yours truly actually stood there and cried while the Cubs lost game two.

Last night, we made it to a bar very close to our home (which supposedly serves "southern food"- but it's not that good) and they had the game projected against one wall. Things looked so hopeful that I held on, even to the very, very last inning (though I had closed my tab in inning 5 in case I needed to bolt)... and they just lost it.

I was so mad that I stormed out of the bar, ripped the Cubs cap off of my head, and threw it to the ground in disgust, and started to walk home. But, as I turned around to look at my little cap, I was reminded that no matter what, this was the team I loved, and I wasn't going to stop because of this loss. So, I walked back to it, brushed the wet grass off, and put it back on my head. And then I mourned the loss for the rest of the night, but before I went to sleep, I was already planning my spring visit to Phoenix to see Cubs spring training in Mesa, and also my friend Lisa. And, and the very least, I was so proud when Mark told me that, after I stormed out (he stayed to finish the beers), some guys behind me mentioned that I was a "true Cubs fan". That's about the best thing I could hope for.

One day, it'll happen. And victory will be so sweet.

Wedding Planning, continued.

Hello all!

My friend Lisa has pointed out that I have not kept you updated on my wedding planning (or summer, either), so I thought I might mention a few things on those topics.

Wedding planning is going quite swimmingly, considering that Mark and I are still a year out. We have officially gotten our church booked (4 pm on Saturday, September 12th! Be there!), and hope to have the reception site (the house at Mynelle Gardens, as I have mentioned) taken care of on December 1st. Of course, I have the dress, as well as an adorable white cocktail dress that will keep me cool while I'm dancing at the party.

We have also reserved our photographer, Adam Hudson (you should Google his work, he and his wife are neat people). The logistics of food will be figured out closer to the date, but my father is (hopefully) already planning some menu ideas that capitalize on in-season, in-state, and hopefully sustainably grown food items. I can tell you that an all-local, all-organic meal and drinks will not be a possibility (after all, the limes for the mojitos will inevitably come from far away), but we will get as damn close as possible. As for a cake, we have an idea: There's a non-profit organization called the Christmas Village which helps abused and battered women, and they provide training in a number of areas. One of those is apparently baking, and so they run a bakery called "Village Confectioners." On top of teach the women these skills, the profits go back to the organization. Granted, it's very difficult to get all organic cake ingredients in Mississippi (especially not at premium prices!), so this aspect will be a struggle. I believe I can ask them to use certain organic products (milk and butter, perhaps sugar, most likely any fillings I would like) so long as I front the extra costs. However, even if none of it turns out to be organic, at the very least I would have a socially conscious cake, if not an environmentally conscious one.

The Eco-Conscious Wedding

I should preface this (and can't remember if I did in the last post) by saying that I want an eco "friendly" wedding is misleading. I mean, I do, but let's face it... the only really ecofriendly wedding option is you and close (in proximity) friends biking to the JP to get hitched. No cross-country travel, no disposable plates, hell, no harmful photo printing processes, and no paper invites. This is one sacrifice I don't really want to make. I do want a semi-traditional wedding, with flowers, and food and dancing, and to fly all the way to Mississippi, and to have our far flung friends join us as we celebrate. However, there's a responsible way to do most of this (as far as the flying... we're pretty much out of luck save for "carbon offsets" which are another post altogether). So, I'm calling it an environmentally conscious wedding, which means, in my mind, that Mark and I look at every aspect of planning with an eye toward sustainability and make environmentally sound choices to every reasonable (and affordable) extent.

Some of this is pretty easy. I got my wedding dress from a consignment store, and second hand is always better than store bought. I intend to sell it after the wedding to extend its usefulness further. If all goes as planned, I will have my reception at a local garden, reducing the need for flowers from Ecuador or God knows where. For what flowers I do use, I will try to use a local and sustainable grower, and findings from my family and friends' gardens. I will try to serve locally-grown food and offer recycled, compostable eating wear (glass/china would be the best choice here, but a little too pricey for my budget, and how would we get them home to clean?? I will try to get mark's ring (and maybe my band?) second hand, and I will pick cocktail dresses, rather than hideous "bridesmaids" dresses for my attendants, which I will ensure are flattering and re-wearable (reaaally re-wearable, I swear). I will use candlelight as much as possible to cut electricity costs, and will use Ipod music rather than an energy zapping band (sadly, mississippi doesn't have a market for solar-powered ipod speakers, though). My wonderful friend Kelly Gilbreath (From Scratch Design) is doing my invites, and helping me find recycled paper to use. All in all, it's not THAT much, but it's something.

So I'll keep you updated on how all of that goes. For now, I have mostly taken a break from wedding planning (except looking at pictures online, which I LOVE to do) to do a little summer research, and to enjoy the weather and the lack of homework. I got a gardening bug after receiving our first two weeks of CSA (community-supported agriculture) produce, and I started a window box herb garden (so far, still alive! I have a black thumb, for those who don't know), and some morning glories and herbs from seed. The morning glories have taken off, and now I'm not sure what to do with them.... Our apartment is old masonry, so an outside windowbox is difficult. Thoughts? I also created a watergarden this weekend, by getting a small decorative pot, putting a 40 gallon-per-hour pump in, and covering with black rocks. I surrounded it with some decorative ferns, which I like so much I'm going to have to get more! Here is a picture of my little Zen garden:

The sound of running water is very soothing to me, so I consider this an invaluable addition to our home. I wish I could do one in every room, but this one is portable enough.

Abbey is also enjoying the sunny weather, though has been depressed for a little while, because we haven't been letting her sit in her favorite sunny window, and the others are overtaken by plants. We've been keeping her away from the window, because it is large, and unscreened, and needs to stay open for cooling purposes. Plus, abbey sits at that window like this:


So we can't have her rolling out. Fortunately, today's garage sale-ing brought a precision fit baby gate to replace the unsecured one we had put up which was all to bulky. So now Abbey has her window back, though I don't know if she's realized this yet.

New and Exciting events.

Clearly I haven't written in a long time. In fact, you've probably all given up on me. But, I guess I should still post my most exciting news: I am engaged! On April 26th, after the better part of 5 years, Mark proposed to me, in our kitchen after a beautiful 3 course breakfast, flowers, and champagne. By now, you've probably already seen pictures of the ring, but I'll put one up anyway:
So, now the thing is, I have to have a wedding. Mark and I have tentatively set the date: Sept. 12, 2009. This means we have a long time to plan, which is great because:

1. We don't have any money. This includes me, Mark, and my parents. I'm thinking I can push the budget to about $7,000.... I already have $2900 put away, and I plan to make an extra thousand this summer, and I'm still trying to figure out where the other half comes from. Just for reference, the average (American) couple spends about 25 grand on a wedding. I think that's ridiculous, wasteful, American consumerism at its worst. Then again, it's easy for poor people to say that. And, I digress...
2. I want to incorporate as much environmental sensitivity as I can into the wedding. I won't say I'm planning an eco-friendly wedding, because weddings are, by nature, NOT eco-friendly.

Trying to work within these two limitations is going to be difficult, I know.

First off, part of me WANTS the Cinderella, super-glam wedding, (without the large guest list though... Mark's little sister got married a little while back, and had the most horrifyingly large number of attendees.... it was awful and so impersonal). So, I've got to get over these competing ideas in my head (one, which has been emphasized over and over again by corporate America, Martha Stewart, TV, etc, and the other, which I know is the better way to go). In general, not just with my wedding planning, I need to move beyond my materialism and wastefulness, and focus on being a more ecologically and socially responsible global citizen.

Secondly, organic anything (food, flowers, dresses) is super expensive, and may not even be that much better than traditional options. Also, the wedding is going to be in Mississippi, which is more or less LAST on the list of environmentally-sensitive states. So, I thought I would use this blog to list out this next year's journey, and how I have managed to be successful in cutting down our wedding's footprint, and what compromises I will have to make, to keep the whole thing in budget. We'll see.

Spring Break

I'm writing this entry from a hotel in Arcata, CA, home of Humboldt State (supposedly the most pot-addled student body in the country - a supposition which has been confirmed over and over again as we meet and observe people in the area... and by the consistently long lines at the Taco Bell). It's the last night of our spring break trip, which has been spent mostly in California. We left on Friday morning, and drove literally all day to Berkeley. We spent the next day hanging out with Mark's friends in Berkeley and drinking wine, and spent Sunday in San Francisco. I made Mark drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, and he took me to Crissy Field, and a beach on the west coast, where we saw the sun set over the pacific ocean. Abbey also played in sand for what seemed like the very first time. She would very cautiously step across it, but then would take off and stop to dig intensely. Mark coaxed her to walk towards the ocean as the waves rolled out, but as they rolled back in, Abbey barked ferociously at them! It was adorable. Monday was spent driving from Palo Alto (where we had stayed with David Long) to Pismo Beach via "The 1" aka the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped in Santa Cruz to visit our friend Eva, went through agricultural Salinas, then Monterey and Carmel. Then- Big Sur. I don't even have anything to write about it, other than it was amazing. It's indescribable and should be seen by everyone.

The next day, we spent the morning at the beach, explored nearby San Luis Obispo, and went wine tasting in Paso Robles. Wednesday was more of the same, and we drove back up to Palo Alto that evening. On the way we went through the "Artichoke Capital of the World" where I got a four pound jar of marinated artichoke hearts to make Amerigo's artichoke dip that I frequently crave. Thursday found us back in San Francisco, Berkeley, and then on the way to Sonoma for more wine tasting. We were actually more impressed by Healdsburg than Sonoma, although both were essentially mission-style versions of Canton, Mississippi, down to the types of stores around. And last night, we made it to Arcata.

Today we saw some giant coast redwoods, and again, there's little I can say about them but "wow." They're truly awe-inspiring, and the only negative about today's trip was that Abbey was not allowed on the trails, and it was raining heavily, so we didn't get to spend as much time exploring as I would have like. Oh, and I was about 40 feet from a herd of elk. That rocked.

Anyway, tomorrow is the long haul back to Seattle, and then right into my busy quarter. I'd better get some sleep.

Tomorrow is Daylight Savings Time, something I've been looking forward to since it started getting dark at 4:30 in December. Things are beautiful in Seattle right now... the daffodils and crocus started coming out last week and are now in full bloom, and I had no idea how many of the trees in Seattle are flowering. I've been so surprised by the weather... Since February, we've seen more sunny days than not!

My entire concept of good weather is changing... Now, if it's 50 degrees and sunny, I want to run outside and play. I wouldn't have gotten out of bed for weather like that in Alabama or Mississippi.

So, I've started this new job at the National Wildlife Federation. Mostly I'm just researching and compiling information about climate policy, to be used this summer in preparing a climate policy approach for the Western Climate Initiative (a proposed cap-and-trade based system in which many western states and areas of canada and mexico will participate. ) I'm inundated with climate policy and it seems like every other day I switch from thinking we can make a difference and halt the worst effects of climate change to thinking we're screwed.

Otherwise, my job is still not very concrete in a lot of ways. I just show up and they tell me what needs to be done. Some days, that's writing a letter to the editor of the Seattle P-I. Other days, I'm editing letters and proposals, or researching, or meeting with legislators.

But I'll have a real job next quarter, a research assistantship within the College of Forest Resources (and the US Forest Service) that relieves me of my out-of-state financial commitment for the semester, which is a huge relief. I'm going to try and hold on to my NWF position while working 20 hours/week for my RA, which will be about 30 hrs/week plus tutoring with Kaplan and in addition to school. But, I'm taking the smallest class load I can (something I've NEVER done.... I think overloading on classes is something more people should exploit!) and hope to find a way through the week.

Abbey dog has learned some new tricks (and if you search channel: abbeymonster on youtube, you can see a vid).... she can now do sit, up (beg), stand, dance, down, shake, and has just learned roll over. We started working on "speak" today. Unfortunately, she doesn't know "no" or "get down".

Mark and I are going to California for spring break! It should be a reasonably priced trip (though gas may be prohibitive!). We'll go down to the bay area to see friends, and then San Luis Obispo for beaching and wining. Abbey dog is coming with us!

I am so tired of elections. I was very intensely interested in it all through February (at least until our caucuses)... and now I'm to the point that I'm sick of listening to everyone, even my favorite candidate. I will say one thing, if John McCain wins, I am leaving the country as soon as possible (after grad school?) I can't be an American if it means supporting war and torture, abandoning our poor and our children, and not taking responsibility for the environmental damages it causes. It's not that I think that all Republicans believe that these things are okay (though some of them must have had to in order to keep Bush in for another term), it's that the Republicans who are currently in office (or will be if McCain is elected) are MONSTERS who have their own financial interests at stake and not the well-being of the country. I actually liked John McCain up until the primary season (even though he's a racist) because he stood for environmental protection (to a point) and had real military experience. But he's thrown his old ideals out the window to kowtow to the big names in the party, and now promises to be nothing more than another Bush. I won't stick around for it.

Anyway, that's the long and short of my life. The month of February flew by, and I can't believe it's almost spring break!!! The 10 week quarter system is much too short, though I'm glad for the break.

Yes, I'm still alive.

Of course, my desire to write down the minutiae of my daily life has dwindled significantly, but I suppose it's time for an update. I made it back home for 3 weeks with Mark and Abbey in tow, went to my friends' wedding, and enjoyed the fact that the sun doesn't set until 5:30 in the winter in Mississippi. Then I was sent back to Seattle in early January, with Mark's little brother Gordon joining us for a vacation. It was rather exciting to host our first visitor. Sadly, we weren't able to do everything we wanted to because I returned to find my car had been run into, puncturing the tire. I had a spare, but didn't think that it was a great idea to drive to Canada or Portland or a ski area on it, so that was out of the question. Gordon was a real sport about it, though, and I think he had a good time.

My car is now fixed, and that's a good thing, because I'm driving regularly to tutor. So far, I've completed 2 students, both boys, who were studying for the ACT... I now have a fifth grader and a sixth grader, and will have 2 more later in the month. The work is easy and enjoyable and makes me flex my brain (ummm... do you remember the last time you did long division? I didn't think so...). My boss at Kaplan seems to like me well enough, and they named me Tutor of the Month for January, which was a great honor for me!

I also had some more visitors in January, five guys from BSC on a road trip for the January term. They were only around for 2 days, but it was so good to see old friends! However, our apartment is TOO small for 5 boys with pent-up energy from sitting in a car all day, I've learned.

My birthday was 2 weeks ago, and the day in particular was bad (my birthdays always are...) but that weekend, my friend Erin and I celebrated our birthdays at her house on the SuperBowl.... I provide a keg, and there were about 15 people there, all friends of mine... the game wasn't so great, but the company was.

On February 9th, I got to caucus for the first time (Washington is a caucus state, at least for the Dems, whereas MS and AL are primary states). It was a great experience.... 100 people showed up for my precinct, which is only 4 small blocks big, and we debated the differences between Hillary and Barack. If you didn't already know (and how could you not, if you're on Facebook), I am an Obama supporter. Now, I actually agreed with Richardson the most, and wished that he had any sort of personality or charisma so he would have a slight chance of being electable, and when he was out, I sided with Edwards, because of his great environmental stance. But, I do love Obama, and have liked him since I listened to his book on tape in Ecuador last year. At the caucus, our precinct was for Obama 5 delegates to 1, but there were undecided voters, so we debated anyway... and the only argument that the Hillary supporters were putting forward was that HRC just has more experience. But what they don't understand is that a President has to be both a manager AND a leader... and Hill is the better manager, and Obama is the better leader. But the management position is not necessarily a one person position--it's guided by cabinet members, heads of big organizations, and is bounded by the legislature. So really, I see Obama and Hillary's managerial output as being basically the same because of that.... But Leader? That can only be a one person job. And Obama clearly has the upper hand there. Plus Hillary is so divisive among Dems... you hear plenty of Dems saying they hate Hillary, but none saying they hate Obama, even if they express reservations. The republicans definitely hate Hillary more, and she would give them a reason to support McCain. But Obama has been pulling dissatisfied GOPers to the polls for him!

So I said this in the caucus, and I guess everyone thought it sounded good, because they voted me in as one of our precincts six delegates. That means that I get to go to the legislative district and county conventions in April. Technically, this also means that I could potentially get elected there to go to the state convention, and then the national convention in Denver in August, but this wouldn't actually happen. All the same, I'm looking forward to April.

I also just got an internship with the regional office of the National Wildlife Federation, which is HQed in Seattle. The regional office's Executive Director came to talk to my climate change class (isn't it nice to live somewhere where they believe in climate change?!) and mentioned something about internships at the office. So, I aggressively hunted him down, and harassed him until he gave in and gave me an internship....

... Actually it was much easier than that. He's so swamped with work, that I think he was willing to take the first person who unwittingly fell into his grasps. Anyway, the position is along the lines of policy analysis. And not for wildlife things, for climate change. Yes, this sounds weird, but apparently this office of the NWF is one of the major players in shaping climate policy for the west coast. So, we'll see what actually happens with the job, but it should be exciting and give me plenty of opportunities to meet people. And working with the NWF sounds so cool, especially to me. I've loved the NWF since I was receiving Your Big Backyard and Ranger Rick, even before I started elementary school. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Anyway, the position will keep me really busy, which is great, because I work harder the more I have on my plate. And you would think with me being in grad school and having one job, this would be the case, but it isn't really. That's because I'm taking 2 classes this quarter that aren't exactly.... strenuous. One is "Quantitative Analysis" which is a pretty way of saying "intro to stats," which means we talk about finding means and using t-tests... stuff I learned on my own the very first time I had to use a stats program, after my freshman year of college. So, I sit in the back of the class and read Vanity Fair, or update my to-do list, and bother the other students who are also in the CFR (forestry) grad program with me... other students who have also taken biology classes and already know what statistical tests are. The other fluffy class I'm taking is Budgeting and Financial Management. There is one professor for this class who seems reasonably demanding, but I don't have her. So, I go once a week and listen, and figure that I can always Wikipedia anything that he doesn't cover when I'm in a real life situation.

My other two classes are much more substantial. One I already talked about is the climate change policy class. At BSC, climate change was covered in 1 or 2 days in my Ecology class... here it's covered for 10 weeks, and we still have about 4 hours of reading for class a week. The other is a research methodology class with the CFR, and its amazing, but sadly would be more pertinent if I actually had a thesis projects, which I probably won't until next year. I came to grad school thinking I knew a lot about research, since I did it for 3 1/2 years in undergrad.... but boy was I wrong! This class elucidates many of the "unspoken basics" of ecological research... the class is based on the premise that most of us have learned how to do research by observation and imitation, but none of us actually have an understanding of the theory behind it. So, our darling, old, British professor spells out the very basics for us, and it's so much to think about!

Anyway, I'm going to go cuddle with my dog and listen to Mark play piano... take care, everyone!