Pictures as Promised

Well I finally put my bed together (I have slept on it several nights now and had up to three people sit on it at a time so hopefully this means it is sturdy and will not suddenly fall apart while I am sleeping (*knock on wood*). Having the "under my bed" storage place meant I unpacked most of the rest of my room and even put up a few decorations. Finally I am ready to show it to people.


It says K on my door. Very convenient.


Said bed, my two large glorious windows, and my very first piece of art - complete with frame - purchased in sophomore year and not used until right now. It is a series of anatomical drawings - the heart, mind, and soul. You may also see in this picture my desk with a very excellent website up on my computer and the plant my parents got for me for my birthday which is now slowly dying despite my best efforts.


Closet/dressing area. I am especially proud of the postcards from my various adventures this summer.


My tiny adorable kitchen. Made slightly less tiny by my enormous organizer filled with appliances and other cooking implements. Many thanks to my mother for helping me put it together, I think it would still be in pieces on the floor without her.


A preposterous amount of dishes and glasses for one person but if I ever get a table I will be all set for dinner parties.


My strangely enormous bathroom, large enough for convenient (if odd) vacuum storage.


My extremely large bathtub which makes me extra glad I don't pay for water (although I've only used it once so far, it was wonderful), and possibly my favorite thing I've bought for my apartment so far: owl bathmat.

So there you have it, the virtual tour of my apartment. Not finished, not perfect, but very comfortable and now it feels like home. I hope you can come visit it in person sometime. And now I believe I shall head down to Beloit to see a boy.

Home, Sweet Home

So I've been in Madison a little over a week now. My apartment is still not entirely put together, but it's getting there. I still have a bunch of boxes to store or throw out, my bed is not exactly cooperating with me trying to fix it, and I could really use some more storage space but I really like my apartment. I hung up my first real bit of art. I bought it at Gallery ABBA in Beloit sophomore year but have never had room for it before. I'm super happy about it. Once things are in order it will be in the pictures I post, hopefully.

I'm enjoying being alone a lot more than I thought. Part of that might be that I'm still getting used to having the internet all the time, and part of that is that How I Met Your Mother is all available on Netflix, so I spend a lot of time doing that, but I've also been starting on doing other things I set out to at the beginning of the year. I've started my NaNo story over and have decided to do it in January instead of November. I'm not sure I'm writing fast enough to actually get it done, but I've been writing again which was the only goal. I've been working on my dad's scarf, I've cooked a little, and most importantly, I started a new hobby.

This weekend I researched places I could start pole dancing up here. I've been doing pole dancing in Rockford with my former roommate for a couple of months (not stripper pole dancing, the athletic, Cirque du Soleil kind, like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZlD2Yt3t7A&feature=related ) and I liked it so I wanted to keep going. I found two places, both are very expensive, one of them has very strict six-week classes and seems a bit like the National Karate of pole dancing places. The other one, I found out, was started by someone who used to do it at the first place. I went there anyway, just to try it out. I went to a Level 2 class because my last place didn't have levels and I just guessed. As we were stretching the other girls in the class said they'd been going for two years and three years, respectively. I said two months, and I hadn't done it in a month. They used stationary poles, I'd only ever used spinning ones. I don't want to sound conceited, I really don't, but this is the truth. I was better at it than the other girls. I'd been doing it a fraction of the time and I wasn't used to the type of pole they used but I got the combinations faster, even though I'd never done any of the moves before and they'd already been working on the combinations. It was fun and certainly an ego boost but I don't know if I want to take lessons at a place where those are the people who have been doing it for years. Maybe the Level 3 class (which she said I could go to after a couple more weeks at Level 2) would be better, but it was still pretty expensive and I missed rotating poles.

So I decided to scrap pole dancing, at least for now, and go to another dance studio I found, only a few blocks away from my house and they do all sorts of different types of dance with sort of a "drop in and have fun" mentality. They did have pole dancing listed but it seemed like much more of a stripper kind of pole. Anyway, last night I went to my very first hip-hop class, and more than that it's the first time that I picked up a hobby without tagging along with a friend or family member or being given lessons by my parents. I found a place I wanted to try out and went by myself. It didn't even really occur to me that that was a big step until afterwards. Anyway, hip-hop was super fun and afterwards I decided to stay for the pole class. They had two stationary and one spinning pole, not as nice or as fast as the ones at my old place but still! For the most part it was more floor/stripper-type-dancing oriented but I talked to the teacher and told her about my experience and she basically let me and two other girls who were more experienced hang out together on the spinning pole and try to teach each other things. Occasionally she would come over or check on us, make sure we weren't killing ourselves or show us something cool, but basically we had free rein and it was awesome. Today I am incredibly sore because between the two classes I basically danced for two and a half hours straight, but I'm probably going back tonight for bellydance. It turns out that I just adore dancing and since I have a two-week pass and no job...well this is basically what I'll be doing for the next two weeks.

Oh! Birthday! I forgot to tell you about my birthday. It was lovely. A little low-key but filled with friends and delicious food (Maggie introduced me to a lovely place called the Weary Traveler on Willy Street and then we discovered that the delicious sushi place on State delivers...so that's going to be a problem for my wallet) and board games, plus it was warm enough that I walked around all day without a coat on and climbed a tree which has never ever happened on my birthday. It was pretty great. Plus, Mike gave me an adorable tiny fat narwhal, and my parents gave me some very beautiful flowers that are making my apartment much more homey right now.

Things on the job front are a little weird right now. I know I shouldn't just count on getting this Epic job, especially because it's another week and a half before I even have my interview, but I have my hopes really high and I really want it, plus I don't know what else to apply for and I hate doing applications. I keep looking at environmental jobs but I'm really not qualified for any of them or they're not in Madison, or usually both. I really hope this Epic job works out, but in the meantime I should probably actually do application work.

Overall, though, I'm really very happy and I can't complain. Life is good.

Why Hello, 2012!

So far this year has been pretty great. I rang in the new year with some of the Madison folks, and it was so much fun. Everyone kept talking about how excited they were for me to be their neighbor, and I'm just so so happy that I decided to move here. With the help of my mom, Sam, Alexis, and Ben I am now all moved in to my new apartment, and with working pretty hard at it for the last couple of days I am almost all settled in, too.

I'm almost entirely unpacked at this point, and most of my furniture is where it will stay, at least for now. I forgot just how much stuff Jason and Gaea bequeathed me when they left for the Peace Corps, and so I ended up with probably more kitchen stuff than my tiny little kitchen needs, but it's way better than the alternative. My only problem at this point is that I have barely any food. I just sort of let it run out slowly at my last place because I knew I'd be going home and then moving here. The day I moved in Ben pointed out a nearby grocery store and I finally went down there today, but it turns out it's less of a grocery store and more of a really expensive convenience store. I bought a few things to tide me over, but I really need to get to a real grocery store soon. I would have had time today, except I also got my internet all hooked up (all by myself) and since then I have been somewhat (read: a lot) less productive than I'd hoped.

Once the last few boxes and bags are unpacked and my bed is fixed (oh yeah, my bed broke in the move. The part that connects the sideboard to the headboard fell out, and Home Depot didn't have the right size screw, so I am trying my hand at furniture repair, and the wood filler is currently drying in my bathroom. Wish me luck!) I will post some pictures.

So far I really like it here. It's a nice size and while it's not perfect it feels very homey already. I'm actually kind of enjoying having this space to myself and being alone, although I'm sure the loneliness will set in once the novelty wears off. There's some more furniture and things that I would like but I've already spent a lot of money (even just the basics for moving in are expensive) and I'm not spending more until I get a job. Although, things are looking up on that front, too! I'm in the process of scheduling a time to go visit the Epic campus! Very excited, but also nervous.

I'm hoping to explore the city some more tomorrow. I've been wrapped up in the internet and in organizing my new place, so I haven't been very many places in Madison, yet. I'm going to get some groceries and then figure out some way to experience the city. Not sure how yet, but a hot chocolate crawl was suggested. I'll figure out something fun.

It's hard to believe tomorrow is my 23rd birthday already. I know a lot of you reading this are older than me and will roll your eyes, but 23 feels so old! I sort of consistently feel about two years younger than I really am. When I was 20 I had to fight the urge to tell people I was 18, when I was 21 I felt 19, etc. I still sort of feel like I should be turning 21 instead of 23. 23 just seems like I should be more worldly and wise than I am. Although, living alone in a real city, even a small one, makes me feel a little more legitimate. It's just scary because life is starting to get real now. It's not my graduation year anymore and after tomorrow I won't be the same age I was when I graduated. I moved out of my college town (but I'll still be visiting a lot, of course). It's scary but exciting. I am excited to be able to make my own decisions but scared because those decisions will be much more lasting than anything was before. So far I've only had jobs and places to live for a few months at a time. I'll be in this place for at least 8 months and presumably the next job I get I'll have to commit to for longer. What if I don't like it? I mean, the real thing I have to remember is nothing is permanent and part of being an adult means accepting consequences, but part of it also means having more control and being able to change things when you're unhappy. I think this is going to be good. I'm positive and happy and things will be good.

Oh man, I meant for this to be a short entry and that so did not happen. I have to go get ready so I can go to an open skate with friends.

Long story short: A new year, a new city, a new apartment, a new me, and old friends to share it all with. I'm really lucky, and this year is going to be good.