2011: A Retrospective

This was quite the red-letter year for us.  

Paul presented at SICB and I got laid off, then un-laid-off, then laid off, then un-laid-off again (yay!  take that budget cuts!) at SSNERR.

I got bangs and Paul more or less moved into a permanent, sexy-lumberjack, man-scruff look (Except for those three months when he grew "The PhD Beard").

We reached our goal for having a six-month emergency savings fund and our little coastal town got slightly hit by the tsunami from Japan.

In May, we both flew out to Germany so Paul could interview for the Max Planck Institute and I could play the employment field for a possible job.

Paul was offered the job.  I was offered part-time work.  And we agreed to take that six-month emergency savings fund and use it to move to Europe and travel.

Paul became Dr. Paul and we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! (In style: On a Northwest Tour Extravaganza)


My sister got married in October and had the best reception (and bouquet) I've ever seen in my life.


Paul turned 30 (!!) and we celebrated in the Czech Republic and spent Thanksgiving in Turkey.  I found out that I was accepted into Penn State's MGIS program (woo! but...expensive!).

We moved into Aquahaus, in the old-city neighborhood of Rostock, which served as our base for an awesome first German Christmas.

I'm so incredibly grateful for everything we've been able to do and see this year, and especially that we have each other.  Paul is everything wonderful in the world and he tells me that I'm pretty cool too--I think I'm just cool by association then.  All in all, I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be The Year of the Hunn.   

Happy Silvester (as it's called here) to you and we hope you have a good slide (as they say here) into the New Year!

Thank You, Oregon

I moved here in September 2008, a week and a half after we were married. 

I'm moving away in September 2011 (well, six hours after September ends). 

These three years have been the happiest and most beautiful years of my life.

Thanks, Oregon.

The Epic Goodbye

View Larger Map

As I'd mentioned before, we went on an epic goodbye trip through the northwest back in August. It involved lava, close encounters with wildlife, and eating the best meal I've ever had in my life.

If I ever find myself the proprietor of a travel agency, I would recommend this exact itinerary for everyone because it was so crazy-perfect. PERFECT. I tell you.

And look at that map! Doesn't that little blue route line just scream, "Jealous, aren't ya?!"

'Fraid it does. I'm afraid it does.

Pulling Up Roots

Today I went to water my garden--the garden I've been working in for three years now, and I noticed the signs of September.  The onion tops were flopped over, parts of the tomatoes were turning yellow, the parsley had bolted and tall umbels were full of seeds.  It's time to pull up the roots.

Ohhh Tuna, Tuna, Tuna Starts with T!

This ain't your grandma's tuna.

Or...maybe it actually is more like your grandma's tuna and it ain't your childhood tuna.  But at any rate, this is a fresh caught tuna loin and ohhhh, do I have plans for it tonight.  You might even say I have designs on it.

Oh, did I forget to mention...

 Paul totally passed his dissertation defense a month ago, today.

It was pretty epic.  There were parasites and crustaceans and pointed questions about the preferences of mosquitoes--then, of course, came the snake fight. 

But through it all, he prevailed and earned the right to now say, "That's DR. Paul to you."  The power...the terrible and awful power of it all.

  

Things I Will Miss: Camping

SO, Paul and I are moving to Germany for a number of years with only what we can fit into two suitcases each.  That means we're giving away most of our clothing, selling or donating all of our furniture, and generally Walden-ing our lives so we can go live by some metaphorical pond otherwise known as Europe.  

After this summer, however, I suddenly found it very difficult even imagine how we could possibly live anywhere without our camping gear.  Camping has become de rigeur for us here in Oregon--and is there anyone who could possibly ask why?

Elk Creek Falls--And what did YOU do for your Friday night?

I mean, we buzzed out of town at 4pm one Friday and within two hours were high up into the Siskiyou National Forest where we found a campsite with only one other tenant (waaaay on the other side), and an empty spot right next to some summer river rapids and covered with Douglas Fir.

What did YOU see when you opened your eyes on Saturday morning?

We built a fire, we roasted marshmallows, we screamed like little girls when the tortilla chip bag skittered across the picnic table (courtesy of our new friend "Chippy the Chipmunk").  We sat there looking at all the stars and we just talked for hours in the quiet.  And we said out loud, more than once, "We're really going to miss it here."

Last Weekend

We went canoeing on the Pacific Ocean in an Umpqua and Coquille Native American dugout.  Beat that!

And I got to sit next to a mountain man  in the canoe, otherwise known as Paul 'The Dissertationator'


I do believe he's going to grow all his hair out until he has to turn his tome in to his committee.  Which I think is awesome.  Because he looks like a sexy lumberjack.