Dang it... Summer went by too quickly! After two and a half wonderful months back home with the family in Vancouver, I'm now officially in Denver! Here's a re-cap of some of the highlights of the rest of the summer:
In July, Kris' mom and I went to the Saturday Farmers Market at Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver. The weekend we went to snoop around was also the weekend of the Recycled Arts Festival. The two of us had a great time oooh-ing and awww-ing at all of the ingenious ways to reuse materials of all kinds. I especially liked the huge, 5+ ft tall dragon made out of old metal!
Also in July, my good friend and former roomie S came down to Vancouver for a quick, but fun 24-hour visit. It had been about a year since we had last seen each other. We had a great time catching up over drinks by the Columbia River in the evening and grabbing coffee and checking out some of the antique stores and shops along on Main Street the next day. I'm so glad we were able to spend time together!! She is such an awesome gal and a fantastic friend.
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| Nerdy humor on Main Street |
In early August, Kris' mom and I went to see the Mickey Hart Band play at the Roseland Theater in Portland. She's a big Grateful Dead fan and had seen the Mickey Hart Band once before, and she jumped at the chance to see them again! We had a great evening and I'm happy that she invited me to join her! I was definitely one of the youngest people in attendance, but it was super rad to see a great live show and join all the Baby Boomers in letting loose and grooving out to good music.
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| The Mickey Hart Band! |
A couple of weekends ago, two of Kris' good friends got married! John and Jenny have been amazing, long-time friends of Kris'. I have truly enjoyed spending time with them several times a year, and Kris and I were so pleased to be a part of the celebration of their wedding (Kris was one of the groomsmen). Although it poured rain and there was tons of loud thunder during the ceremony itself (which was actually incredible and perfect!), they were able to get fantastic pre-wedding photos on top of a ridge overlooking Mount Rainier with glorious, sunny, warm weather. It was quite the eventful day and a lovely weekend. I had a blast meeting so many of their friends and family. Everyone was genuinely fun to be around, and it is always a treat to be able to spend time with Kris between his busy research trips for work.
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| John and Jenny's beautiful pre-wedding photo location, near Mt Rainier |
Not too many days after the wedding, my mom and I were picking up a 6x12ft U-Haul trailer and having my dad help to pack it all up with my stuff! I can't believe it all fit, but then again, my dad is a genius when it comes to packing. He did a great job figuring out where everything should be placed to make it all fit snugly.
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| The epic packing of the U-Haul |
Then, we were on the road! My sister was able to join us for the trip, so we had our first Tyler Family Great American Road Trip since 1997! It took us two days to drive to Denver. On the first day, we stopped by Walla Walla to have lunch with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and then we stopped by my grandma's house to catch up with her and another one of my aunts. I hadn't seen them in what felt like forever; it really was wonderful to be able to catch up a bit and share some laughs.
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| My grandma and me! |
The second day of driving found us going through the northern corner of Utah and almost all the way across southern Wyoming. Some of the scenery in that area was pretty spectacular! We all had fun checking out the changing geography.
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| Somewhere in northern Utah |
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| The slightly green hills of southern Wyoming (due to copper deposits) |
And then, just like that, we arrived this past Sunday night! My folks let me have the privilege of driving the car and the U-Haul trailer across the Colorado state line and down into Denver. We had made it!
But then came the fun part of moving in, haha. Between the four of us, we made quick work of unloading the trailer, and after many trips to Target, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart, we had the place mostly unpacked and set up by the end of the day on Monday. The fam had to leave first thing on Tuesday morning, so I spend the day putting together my bedroom and cleaning up random clutter around the apartment. Check out the finished product:
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| My bedroom! |
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| Bathroom |
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| The galley-style Kitchen |
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| Entry and living area, seen from the kitchen |
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| Living area and kitchen, seen from the entry |
I
really like my new digs. There's so much space, especially
compared to my tiny apartment in France!! It's also quite nice to have a full kitchen and to again be reunited with all of my wonderful kitchen tools, utensils, and supplies. I was so stoked to be all moved in and settled that I made myself a delicious batch of Sangria on Tuesday evening! It was sure a refreshing treat with 90ยบ heat outside.
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| Celebratory Sangria :) |
It's a bit strange to be here all by myself, not be in school yet, and not really know anyone. Honestly, it is a bit lonely, but I've been having fun exploring campus and the surrounding neighborhoods on foot and by bike. And fortunately, I do know TWO people here! An old friend from high school/college and his girlfriend moved down here after they both graduated, so we've been able to reconnect, which is great! They came over on Wednesday and we caught up over Sangria. :)
Although I don't have terribly much going on until the first week of September, I have been busy applying for jobs and going to interviews! I was very lucky and already had two interviews set up for this week, and I heard back from another place and added a third interview to the mix. I got offers from two of them, and even though it was difficult to have to turn one of them down, I decided take a job as a French/College Essay/Literature/Writing/ACT Test Prep tutor with Varsity Tutors! I'm excited to be able to stay connected with high school and younger college kids and use skills from my interests and previous jobs to help them succeed in their own schooling. I think it will work out pretty well with my school schedule and still allow me enough flexibility to go home over the holidays and take days off when I need to.
Overall, I'm a happy camper down here in my new home, and am feeling very fortunate to have such great support from my family and to have had such good luck with finding a great apartment and finding a job!!
Now, I await the beginning of my first year of graduate school...
*Dun dun daaaaaah!*
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