Spring Break

Phew! I'm back in Pullman after my trip with Adrian to Seattle and the coast.  Honestly, despite everything (2 car accidents; done talking about that), we had the greatest time.  In my experience, usually when you travel with someone else & don't have much of a plan, things can get pretty stressful, and your travel partner starts to really grate on you.
Not in the least.
Adrian & I spent the entire 5-day trip by the seat of our pants, always ending up sleeping someplace other than where we had originally intended, meeting all kinds of amazing people, as well as some good old friends each of us had in the city.
I felt like I had a really good experience with Seattle in December when I went with the Danes.  This totally trumped that.  We were all over the University District, Capitol Hill, Pike's Place, and the downtown shopping district.  FINALLY I got to go to H&M and get some new pants.  I have been rocking the same two pairs of pants for the past few months because they're the only ones I like wearing.  Obviously I could use some variety & they were sort of cheap, so wearing out quickly.  Hence the need to visit H&M to solve all of my problems, as usual.  You're getting good quality and style without paying out the ***.  I feel like most expensive jeans I find actually aren't that great of quality anyway, nor are the usually my style.  They have the premade shreds in them or too much junk on them.  Simple, dark, nice slim fit is all I want, just as long as it doesn't make my butt look like a deflated whoopie cushion.

Anyway, in addition to meeting up with great friends, checking out UW's Lambda Chi house, clubbing, shopping, and drinking amazing coffee & bubble tea, we made a little detour up to Bellingham.  Here is the absurdly serendipitous part.
Adrian & I are in my car driving to get onto the highway to head north to Bellingham.  I hand him my phone to text Ann to get her address.  As I do, Ann texts my phone saying that she and her sister are in the University District, literally 2 blocks away from where we were.  What?! So we take the Jeep back to the Lambda Chi house to park it, then walk to meet Ann & April for extraordinary Thai food and more shopping (haha!) Sooo funny, and a really good time.  Then we just followed the two of them all the way back to their house in Bellingham anyway.  Could not have been more perfect.

Adrian, me, April, and Ann at Thai Tom's on the Ave

Once we were in Bellingham, Ann took it upon herself to give us a real experience of the city.  It's definitely a unique place, and very quintessential Pacific Northwest.  LOTS of hipsters; perhaps a little bit grungier than the Seattle hipsters.  

The Bellingham cold reminded me of living in Gig Harbor, where the air itself is icy cold from all the moisture, and it can even be hard to warm up inside.  Then when you go to use the faucet, the water is so frigid, it's like glacial runoff.  This wasn't the case so much in Ann's darling house, but when I went to another friend's house there, it definitely brought back those memories, haha.

This was all Adrian's first time seeing the ocean.  Granted, Bellingham resides inside a bay with large islands protecting the entrance, but it's most assuredly still the ocean.  For him it was pretty momentous, and I wanted to do anything but belittle the situation.  I can't wait to show him the real coast or even San Diego at some point.

Here he is absolutely elated to be at a beach and having made a few crab friends

Now that I've returned to Pullman, it's back to the old grind.  I'm in the midst of working at the pool during our annual weeklong shutdown we do for maintenance and general upkeep.  Everything has been very productive so far.  I kind of like being able to get a bunch of hours without having to deal with anyone's questions or problems for a while.

Springtime beauties

Alright, I went to work and found the nice comment one of my co-workers wrote about me.  The staff development manager printed it out onto this neat background that adds a little emphasis :

"He is a positive, motivating force that always makes an effort to make our staff feel better and make the PAFC a better place to work.  Ky is easy to talk to and spends extra time and effort above and beyond what is expected of him.  By bettering himself through the LGI class, he is making himself a more knowledgable leader and a critical part of our team.  If our managers are the vital organs of our staff, then Ky is the beating heart that pumps motivation throughout the entire staff."

I really want to go through and edit the grammar, but I can definitely resist being a pig in this case : P If only I were this successful with my schooling! Although things are looking up schoolwise, too.  I'm presenting one of my group projects in class today.  Urggh soo many group projects, rarr rarr rarr!!

In addition to my baking binge I started in the fall, which has actually died off a little recently, I am now a cultivator.  Adrian bought me a huge set of beautiful lilies, which was so very nice.  I originally put them on my kitchen table & let their luscious scent waft throughout the place.  It wasn't long before I could tell they were unhappy in their little store pot & needed some room to grow.  Here is a picture of them from the other day:

It's clear that they're already dying around the base, poor things.  Ann & I made a trek to the garden center, where I found a much, much larger pot for them, with some organic soil to munch on.  The new potting arrangement would be too big & tacky for the kitchen table, but I didn't want my babies to go to waste sitting alone in a corner of the house either.  I moved them down to my bedroom, where they have a nice, sunny view out my windows.  That way, they're always at the foot of my bed when I wake up, and my bedroom smells fantastic.

I really hope they survive & are happy in their new home.

un nouveau poste

Eeeek, sorry I've been the lamest about updating recently.  I've been fairly entangled in staying caught up with my classes and having a lively social life.  Oh, and the whole job thing.  Not a big deal!
By the way, I am the employee of the month! I just found out yesterday.  Someone on staff wrote the nicest recommendation for me, I will have to copy it and post it on here.  So sweet.

Speaking of sweet, I met this really great guy at the beginning of last month, Adrian.  We started going out on a few dates & really getting to know each other, and now things are pretty serious.  He lives over in Moscow, so there is a slight distance issue, but it's actually kind of nice because our lives aren't on top of each other all the time (whoa, pardon the expression), and I find Moscow so charming anyway.  I'm not trying to get cheesy, but I... really like him.  We are extremely compatible both emotionally and physically, and seem to fit into one another's lives really well.  He is a super genuine, responsible guy.  Ok, if you know me well, get this part: he's in a fraternity.  Prior to this experience, I have had nothing but contempt for the Greek system (although the show "Greek" made me wish I could rush Kappa Tau).  Having now been a many-time guest & tenant of the Lambda Chi Alpha house, I can attest that you will be hard pressed to find a friendlier bunch of fellas.  I love the atmosphere & close-knit dynamic.  Everyone there adores Adrian & regularly come to him for advice.  They all know who I am as well, and that I'm obviously with Adrian, and could not be more welcoming.  I brought them chocolate cookies thanking them for their hospitality.  Brownie points for Ky! (pardon the expression here too, as they were in fact cookies)

Me with tall, dark, and handsome

As I said, I've been spending a lot of time in Moscow at the Lambda house.  It's like a refuge from the stresses of my Pullman life.  I feel like I can really relax & wind down there.  I studied there with Adrian last night for my massive Chinese midterm & totally rocked the midterm today! Uhh, definitely utilizing this strategy from now on.

Well, the semester is slowly crossing the halfway point, which means crunch time steadily approaches.  SOOO many group projects!! Whyyy??! I read the assignments and cannot figure out how doing it in a group makes more sense than doing an individual paper or presentation (other than saving time on presentations).  Finding the time to collaborate with all of these different groups is especially taxing.  Oh well, complaining isn't going to make it go away.

Spring break is next week, so I hope to have exciting tales to tell.  I'm really glad that I decided to get out of town for at least a bit.  Adrian & I are going to Seattle for a couple of days, then driving up to Bellingham to visit some dear friends, then heading back over to the eastern paradise.  Hope the weather is as nice on the West Side as it is here.