Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

As of 1:45 this afternoon I'm on vacation.  That's not to say I'm entirely relaxed, however.  Planning a 3 to 4 week vacation turns out to be more work than anticipated, not that I'm complaining.  I actually love the planning process with all the possibilities and excitement it generates.  Packing, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired.  Since this is not just a quick 3 day hop to mom and dad's, where Target is only a 10 minute drive away should I happen to want nail polish remover, I'm having to put more effort into the packing part.  It's a long time to be gone but I don't want to overpack either, particularlly since I'll need to bring heavy/bulky cold weather clothing.

We've fleshed out an itinerary that will be heavily dependant on flight loads and our own whims but looks like it will start in Buenos Aires and move over to Colonia and Montevideo, Uruguay before returning to BA.  From there we'll jump up to see Iguazu Falls then start making our way down to Mendoza and/or Cordoba and then on to Bariloche and the Argentine Lake District.  There we hope to cross over to Chile, check out their Lake District and continue on to the Puerto Montt and Chiloe area, from which we'll hop down to Punta Arenas and do some Patagonian sightseeing.  After that we'll probably come up to Santiago and check out that surrounding area and maybe jump up to San Pedro de Atacama and back to Santiago to catch a flight back to the states.  If there's still time and budget left, maybe we'll squeeze in another trip.  We'll already be packed after all.

It's all subject to change, however, with so many factors out of our control, so it'll be interesting to see how it'll pan out.  We generally wing it like this on vacation but a trip of this length and detailed itinerary will be a first for us.  It's all really exciting and slightly overwhelming.  But as long as we'll get to be together and away from work for one month we know it'll be a great time no matter what.

Thursday morning we head out and we don't go back to work until October.  We'll plan to stay in contact via email a few times throughout the trip.  Can't wait to see what this month has in store for us!

Renewal

We've signed our lease for another year and so the countdown begins. The nerves are already starting to set in for me. I'm getting anxious just thinking we'll be making major changes in a year so I can't imagine how I'll feel once we're actually making those changes.

The renewal has also prompted me to do a spring cleaning of sorts. I want to start parting with things now before I'm too emotional with the move to make sound decisions on what to toss and what to pack. I've offered the idea of tossing it all and starting anew where ever we end up but Keck wasn't too keen on that, so we'll have to just sort through it all.

Of course we've got the long vacation coming up next month so this will all have to wait until we get back. Boy won't that just be a lovely task to come home to?

On a more personally fulfilling note, I recently got a gorillapod that I can't wait to break in. So, although I have yet to get a real tripod because I can't decide which one to get, I now have the ability to shoot long exposures and self portraits with my funky gorillapod that is oh-so-easy to transport. Now I'll be able to do this more often:

Trip Report - NYC

Is there ever enough time to do everything you want on a trip to New York City? I doubt it and so this trip was no different. We hit the highlights but will definitely need to return to do all the rest. After a close call when we cancelled our late night flight to JFK, we made it out on Jet Blue, comfy as can be, lulled to sleep by Direct TV. We get into New York on a Sunday morning so the traffic was light enough that Sue was able to drive us around. Nothing like a private tour around Manhattan after coming off a red-eye flight, right? We were able to maneuver around the city without much trouble and see many of the sights from the comfort of a luxury sedan with leather seats - ahhh. Keck got some great shots out of the car's sunroof and I had a wonderful time seeing his reaction to the over stimulation that is NYC.

The next days were spent on the Jersey shore. All jokes aside, the shore was actually surprisingly nice. We stayed at Sue's sister's trailer out near Long Beach Island on the cutest little campground. It's got a lot of trailers parked there year round with sweet screened in decks built onto them. We spent time sitting out there catching the cool breezes gliding in through the woodsy forest surrounding the campgrounds and getting bitten up more than I could have ever expected (especially considering we were covered in bug spray). The trailer itself was really nice too, perhaps almost as big as our little apartment (minus our $10/month vaulted ceilings, of course) and it even had cable, baby. We were in HGTV heaven.


Nice, huh?

I kid... this is the real shot.

The beach itself was clean, well, with this one exception...


I was goofing on Sue that I'd make sure everyone saw that picture since it just plays so perfectly into the Jersey Shore stereotype. The water was colder than I prefer and it was full of jellyfish. In fact, Keck spent most of his time trying to clean the ocean by fishing them out.






My little jellyfisherman - oh man, he's so cute!


The crowds really started pouring in later on. I remember thinking of all the beaches I'd ever been to this must have been the most crowded. It was a little surreal. Oh, one other thing, you have to purchase a "badge" to go on the beach. Another first for me, since I've never been to a beach that wasn't public. Apparently Jersey will tax anything it can. Evidently the money from these badges (which can be re-used endlessly) goes to maintain the beaches. Well, that's interesting...


I'll still take Hawaii given the choice and I do find the Oregon coast more beautiful, MIL. However, it was a great time and Keck got to feed his sweet tooth at an Italian ice shop that he loved.


We returned to the city again after this jaunt to the coast and this time we walked and walked and walked and walked some more. In between that walking we took pictures, shopped, rode the subway at rush hour, looked for landmarks and ate bagels. It was exhausting and so fun (except for the Statue of Liberty part which I'm just so happy I'll never have to do again).



We didn't get to do any of the museums but we've mapped out our trip for next time and still have money left on our metro cards so we'll just have to go back. It was a fantastic anniversary and we were able to keep our tradition of being at the beach on August 5, which we couldn't be happier about.

August 5, 2008

August 5, 2007

August 5, 2006

On Deck - New York City

Our anniversary is next week! We'll officially (per Emily Post and other etiquette experts) end our newlywed status by celebrating our second anniversary in New York (although we'll still probably consider ourselves newlyweds for some time to come because we're corny and very much in love). This will be Keck's first time there so I expect we'll do all the regular touristy things. We'll be staying with our friend Sue in New Jersey and hopping over to the city on public transportation. It should be a lot of fun and as a bonus we're going to try to check out the Jersey Shore. Our very biased Jersey friend Sue has told us tales of its splendor and our continual ridicule of her and our scoffs don't seem to slow her down one bit, so if possible, we want to try to see it for ourselves and determine if it really is better than this:

That's right, we've been told Hawaii has nothing on the Jersey Shore and, no, Sue was not joking. Last year while we were planning our first anniversary trip she told us (in all seriousness) to just skip Hawaii and celebrate on the Jersey Shore. We certainly didn't take her up on that offer but since we'll be in the area this time around, perhaps we can finally lay this matter to rest. Anyone care to guess what the results may be? I have a feeling I can predict this one...

Trip Report - Austin

As expected we had a great time in Austin. We helped Sissy move into a great new apartment and there really was very little manual labor involved. Let me tell you that hiring movers is the way to go. Of course when I first saw one of the two movers I thought we were in trouble. The guy was about 5'6" and 160 lbs and fresh as a daisy considering he's just come off another move earlier that morning and it was triple digit weather. I didn't think he'd be able to lift a box much less a mattress. As if to settle any doubt up front, he picked up the queen size mattress first thing and hauled it down the three flights of stairs with ease. Once the raccoon apartment was cleared out, which didn't take long, we saw the little guy change his sweat soaked t-shirt which explained his earlier fresh-as-a-daisy appearance.

I really am impressed with how little things Angie had. Other than these boxes she just had a living room set, TV and bedroom set. It certainly makes for easy moving and has inspired Keck and I to start tossing things out now in order to avoid packing and unpacking them later.

We got our Tex-Mex fix while we were out there, although I have no picture proof of it since I was rather starved and scarfed everything down without a thought of digital evidence. We also had a nice dinner at Shady Grove one night and didn't even have to wait an hour for a table - that was a bonus.

Side note on the Shady Grove experience - there was a little poodle tied up outside on the lawn and this grandfather took his tiny little grandson out there to see the dog. As we're getting into our car we get front row seats for a very unexpected show. We watch as grandpa sets the baby down face to face with the dog, leaving about 6 inches between them. At this point, I figured trouble was brewing since it was clear the dog and the baby didn't know each other and the dog looked like it was spooked by the baby. Sure enough the baby's big head and lack of center of gravity get the best of him and he starts to topple forward onto the dog. Feeling attacked, the dog strikes out and kicks the baby's face, cutting his nose. After that we left so we weren't able to see how it turned out once grandpa returned the baby to mom but I have a feeling it didn't go over too well. As we're pulling out of the parking lot we take one last look at the grandpa and find him holding the crying baby and trying to initiate some sort of reconciliation between him and the dog. Yikes!

Here's a sign that was adjacent to the scene of the crime. Perhaps it should read "violators will be mauled by a miniature poodle" instead.

Some shots of Sissy's great new place. Notice, the awesome kitchen with all it's cabinets and counter space, a girl could get used to this. It's pretty far south, in fact we tease her that she's living in Buda now and not Austin, but it's a nice property and it's close enough to be convienient to everything (Super Target, Central Market and Amy's Ice Cream, you know, the essentials) but far enough away to feel like a little retreat. We also spent time at the pool and played board games, what more could you want in a long weekend?

Finished (For Real)

Last night was the last night of my math class and so I am now officially done with school. I feel confident that I did well and now I just need to get the credits transferred back over to ASU and maybe throw myself a little party. It feels unbelievably great to have finally crossed that finish line that for long seemed totally out of reach. However, I've already caught myself looking at community college catalogs just to see what might be offered. I think that has more to do with wanting lab access than anything else. I feel stalled right now because I don't have anywhere to work on a final product. I don't think I'm the type that needs assignments but I do need tools and seeing that lack of tools makes me not even want to try. The quick fix always seems to be to take more classes. I just hesitate to do that because I've been taking classes for so long that I just want to give it a rest already. Then I look at work completed in my last semester and realize that I want to keep moving forward with it. I remember thinking this Florida project was worth all the blood, sweat and tears of the last 12 years. That thought alone tells me I'm onto something, and I need to see it through.

Anyway, here are some images from that body of work or what I like to call the pinnacle of my BFA pursuit.

Yummmmm

I've got a personal best to report. Whenever I make something new I always have Keck rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, with one being horrible and 10 being amazing. In reality however, Keck refuses to award a 10, on the basis that it would mean there is no room for improvement and he believes that unless you try to improve it then you'll never know it needed no improvement. So I suppose the scale is actually 1 to 9.9. Well, until I made these my personal best had been a few 9.5s here and there but no more, baby. I got a 9.8 on these beauties...


They're chocolate mint cookies of the soft, chewy variety. I loved them too but the recipe makes tons (nearly 4 dozen to be exact). I took some to work to share and Keck took some to work to eat.

By the way, this is pretty much what I've been dealing with lately on account of the vast number of cookies laying around the house to entice my cookie monster.  It's been under control for the most only because we're out of milk.

As a side note, anyone remember when cookie monster would host masterpiece theatre and get so worked up and gluttonous he would eat his pipe?  Well, that's not something you'll see anymore since Sesame Street doesn't wish to promote gluttony but it's funny to think about and realize how things have changed.