Last day of 2012

2012 has been an transitional and amazing year in my life. I started out living in Boston, working at Big Sister and finally getting into the swing of my life. In January, Justin, Kurt and I went city shopping throughout Florida and settled on Tampa. February, Justin and I went to St. John with my father. March we were in a Bowling league, Justin was kicking ass, I was trying hard! There were also trips to Wheaton and Arizona before the big move. June marked our first half marathon and a Montauk trip for Father's Day. By July we had packed and started saying goodbye to our friends in Boston. August was the beginning of our Florida adventure full of beach trips and meeting new friends. Then there was the Republican National Convention and an election in a swing-state. I voted for the first time in person! The end of November marked our first thanksgiving in Florida and the end of the semester. December has been a month of travels.  It is amazing to have the feeling of leaving and returning to things that I love.

I apologize in advance for the poor picture formatting. I spent too much time trying to align things and deleted the whole post in the process!

Justin, Kurt and I in orlando

The Garden- First Celtics Game

St. John

Bowling Squad

My girl Jess at the Wheaton Reunion 

Father's Day

Amazing Friend Send-off

Hard to leave our Boston F

Clearwater Beach with Justin, Jim and Alexis

Charlie's Angels? Arie, Alexis and I

Birthday Sunset- Tampa

Happy Halloween- Love us Loofahs

Thanksgiving Dinner

Allen & Steve- Neighborhood sandhill cranes/bullies

Me and Eck

GA love

Tash came to town!

We survived the first semester!

Christmas visit to Montauk

Snowshoeing round 2

Fence jumper

OK! I pushed him

Snow gallop

And I'm back...

I know I have basically taken the semester off from blogging. After the first week of not writing, I avoided the page and then it just became something I wanted to do but felt like I had been gone for too long! My New Years resolution is just to do the things that make me feel good. I think more consistent blogging is one of those things.

Quick updates:

I just finished my first semester of Grad school. I have to say that it was much more stressful than I had anticipated. I was just getting used to my 9-5 when we relocated and all my downtime became unused homework time! The last month Justin, Nala and I have been in the Northeast visiting friends & family.

This has included snowshoeing, making gingerbread aka graham cracker houses and chocolate cheesecake in Maine as well as a trip to Boston, NYC and Montauk to see the fam.

The pictures below were taken during out trip to Montauk, the first few are house on the beach by my house and the last few are town beaches.

Here you can see all the sand that was taken away from hurricane Sandy

Some houses have added sand since the storm 

You can see the damage that has been done to this house 

This is the entrance to the beach... substantial amount of foam

note the exposed deck of one of the waterfront hotels

We are heading back to Florida after the New Year and I am feeling up for the challenge of my second semester. Justin is still playing cards fulltime and I am really proud of him! Nala has entered her terrible two's which apparently comes with some fence jumping. 

The little elf was sleepy on Christmas Eve

let's evaluate that word... choice

Yesterday I wrapped-up my first week of Grad School classes, and by week I mean 2 jam-packed days. The vast majority of the faculty I meet/interact with seem to bring a lot of passion and knowledge to the department and I feel like I will be able to learn a lot from them. I know I did things backwards, picking a place to live, then picking a school, but I really think I am where I am supposed to be.

My two new Grad School friends- Arielle and Alexis came over last night, Justin made some awesome tacos, and we watched back to the future and mean girls- you know, the classics. It is a great feeling being able to entertain guests in our house. Rumor has it, our guest bed is even comfortable to sleep in! (yes I am dropping not so subtle hints that people should visit!). I feel like I am on a lucky streak of things falling into place; meeting two genuine people so soon has been a pleasant surprise.

Justin stayed home to work today and Jim and I went to Clearwater to go to the beach. Any day I can take advantage of being in Florida is a good day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVTzQNrRodc&feature=plcp

Republican Senate Candidate Tom Smith compared the decision to have a child out of wedlock to the decision to have a child conceived through rape.... TheYoungTurks is definitely a liberal online news station, but I think Cenk Uygur does a great analysis of the mentality and perspective behind statements like these.... that unfortunately continue to occur. I also think the point about "choice" is really important.



Happy Saturday- Justin, Jim and I are heading to dinner.

Melanie

First Day of School

Today was my first day of Grad school and it started off.... slowly. I left my house at 7:15 for my 8am class. It usually takes me 30 minutes to get to campus (oh how I miss those mornings at Wheaton where I would get up at 8:50 for my 9 am class...) so I was giving my self an extra 15 minutes just to be safe. At 7:40 I was 10 minutes away from campus, cutting it a little close, but enough time to park etc. Then, it took me 40 minutes to move a mile. Once I got to the flashing lights, the cops told us all to turn around; a car crashed into a power line and cut power aka no traffic lights. I was an hour and a half late to my 3 hour class. I saved myself by calling and leaving my professor a message, but not a great way to start grad school. I was that girl.
Here is the story to prove it:
http://newtampa.patch.com/articles/bruce-b-downs-closed-near-42nd-street

My first class was Micro Theory and the more I learn about Social Work as a profession, the more I am sure it is the place for me to be. My second class was Diversity and Social Justice. I am most excited about this class, now we are talking about cultural competency and my professor seems tough but in all the right ways. It seems like the kind of class that I will try my hardest in and learn the most, especially about myself. Learning about other cultures is a constant process and I think this will really help me best serve diverse populations. Tomorrow I have 4 classes to attend and overall I have a lot of anticipation for the semester. I am in the process of applying for the Public Health Dual-Degree and I will keep you posted on that.

Tomorrow night I am hosting a "girls night" at our house. My two grad school friends are coming over, I think Justin may have agreed to even cook us dinner! It will be nice to unwind and have fun.Justin, Jim and I may head down to Sarasota (maybe even Siesta Key Erica ;) ) for some fun in the sun.

Last but not least- Justin finished his first month of poker today and it was a winning month at that. It has been great to see all of his hard work, studying, playing, evaluating game and moving up a limit play out. May there be many more.

Melanie

Avoiding the Hurricane

Morning/afternoon.

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac has for all intents and purposes avoided Tampa thus far.  It's back to being  sunny and sticky outside. I think it's heading towards Louisiana next, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Can't New Orleans catch a break? I hope it misses the coast entirely.

I have officially begun my homework, it is a weird process getting back into things. I have spent the last 1.5+ years working with amazing Social Workers at Big Sister and on some level their level of passion and dedication to helping people really illuminated my career path. I can't wait to be their colleagues (again... this time with a degree).

I did dye my hair the other day, and I thought before and after shots would be weird to take, which they were so I avoided taking a before.

The picture on the left is the fill in for the before, obviously it's really windy so you can't see the whole thing, but you can see the epic roots going on. The one on the right, I just took, haven't yet brushed my hair but you get the picture. What I have learned about dying hair is its all about maintenance, and the jury is still out if its really worth it to me. Being able to do it by myself for a fraction of the cost is helping though!

Justin and I are headed to the store and we are taking Nala will us for the ride to the store. Here is a preview.

Talk to you soon!

Melanie



Spoiler Alert: The Big Brother gods have heard my pleas and Dan lives to see another week!

Coke & Coasters

Last night Justin and I went to Coke & Coasters night at Busch Gardens. We saw a completely different side to the park at night. It wasn't really well lit, which was actually really cool because it felt a bit eerie and secluded. Going on a roller coaster in the dark is a bit more scary I think, but a lot of fun.

I finally worked up the courage to dye my hair, and it's not orange or yellow or gray or green so I think I did pretty good.

Tropical Storm Isaac is coming, but it hasn't hit here yet. My campus is closed tomorrow but I will be fine! No worries. My classes don't start until Thursday and the storm should be gone by then.

I've been feeling under the weather today- no pun intended, so I think I am going to lay down early.

To the Big Brother gods: Please let Dan stay!

Melanie

Like a rocket baby

Yesterday, Justin, Jim and I went to Busch Gardens. I have been going to amusement parks and riding roller-coasters for the last 10+ years so I have a lot to compare it to. Overall, I think it is a great park, it is so interesting to see the combination of zoo/rides, where at one point I was staring out at what looked like the Serengeti Desert with roller-coaster tracks in the background. The Kumba and the Montu were my favorite and had me seeing stars by the end of it.

Kumba

Montu

Justin and Jim waited-in the soak zone for the Sheikra ride (it has two incredible drops)

Check out Justin and Jim getting amped with the frequent soakzone visitors. Median age 10? Very fun.
We still have a lot more to see but since we have 2 year passes, I don't think that will be a problem.


Usually, when it comes to Nala, no news is good news. She has definitely made strides in her adjustment over the last few days. Her adjustment would not have been complete however, without marking her territory all over our new bed/bedding.

She enjoyed mounting her thrown as Justin and I dealt with the soiled linens. Currently she is curled up under the blanket as I type, it's great to know that she is feeling more comfortable here.

I realize this is stating the obvious but, I am usually clueless when it comes to beauty products, hair care etc. Today, I am going to attempt to dye my hair so wish me luck. I just loathe the salon experience and I usually end up spending 2+ hours, $100+ and not liking it. My student budget will thank me if I learn how to do it. Fingers crossed!

A hurricane is supposed to roll through here tomorrow/monday. I don't think it will disrupt my first week of classes but I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading,

Melanie