Daniel & I have moved down to our new place. I can't believe how much stuff we have! It is ridiculous--and it's not even all moved in yet. Our kitchenette isn't done yet, so we don't have any of the kitchen stuff (and none of our 3 or 4 microwaves) down here yet. Our bathroom cabinet is 'in progress' right now, so we are surviving out of tupperware containers--not the easiest method of organization. Our wardrobe/closet is in the works (well, actually in the brain and not started yet). We are currently using a portable closet just for hanging our work clothes. Our fridge currently contains some leftover fast food, a few yogurts, plastic spoons, and beer. On the upside, our washer and dryer are hooked up and functioning fine. Our bedroom is cozy and pitch black when you turn the lights out at night. We have been sleeping well due to that. I am getting rid of several pairs of shoes (bringing me down from about 30). This is taking me a few steps back from becoming Amelda (Marcos). Some things that I'm finding we have an abundance of are: Pez Dispensers (of course, but we're not getting rid of those), Star Wars toys, Sesame Street toys (mainly Ernie, stemming from my nickname, but also many of his friends--my coolest one is a 'Tickle Me Ernie' from Germany that says "das kitzelt"--way cool) , Art & Craft supplies (while useful, I don't use them as much as I would like), frogs (a collection that I started about the time Daniel and I got together and has grown immensely), Legos (mostly Star Wars, but some others as well--and more to get from Daniel's old bedroom too), Photography equipment (cameras, accessories, albums, photos, bags), and books (so many more to move down here, but Daniel has to build us a bookshelf first). I have been working hard to get organized and currently have a living room full of Rubbermaid containers. I would love to live simplistically and just get rid of any unnecessary items, but I just can't bring myself to part with everything. And Daniel's not budging on the 15 or so years worth of dirt bike magazines. Pablo (our 2 1/2 year old guinea pig) is settling in well. He has been so used to being in our bedroom that I think he gets a bit lonely in the living room. Occassionally he'll let out a loud SQUEAK! just to remind us that he is here. Our first co-ed softball game is this coming Sunday evening. I am excited to play as it has been 12+ years for me. Hopefully I don't suck too bad and we have a good time. The team consists mostly of people from our work. Daniel is also playing on a men's team with some of the same people for the second year now. Some recent thrift store shopping has led me to a few good buys. You can get music CDs for just about $3, a great way to pick up some of the older music that I wish I had bought a long time ago (R.E.M. and Wayne's World boom from our CD player now). I also picked up a couple BRAND NEW copies of books including 'The Gangs of New York' for a mere 50 cents. I have bragged to many about my find. My most recent purchase was a slightly used Tolkien book ('Smith of Wooton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham') for 50 cents, 'Fight Club,' and a copy of 'Le Journal D'Anne Frank'--'The Diary of Anne Frank' entirely in French. If I ever get through the book, it will definitely take some work as I'm not as fluent as I would like to be and a bit rusty on what I do know anyway. I couldn't resist the novelty of adding it to my library though. So not only have I been satisfying my urge to spend money occasionally, I am also getting great deals and beefing up my brain too. Being that it is late now, I'll end this with a question for all of you--What is your best thrift store (or garage sale, etc.) buy? Post it in your comments.

Comments from Wed, April 28, 2004 Post

Hey Erin! Enjoying the reading. Congrats on the softball victory, I am getting flashbacks... just don't take the line drive to the face that I did! (don't pitch.) Yeah, I know, that explains a whole lot doesn't it? Gee, David and I were thrift store maniacs, and I am still a garage sale junkie. Coolest buy? Hmmm either my "Penelope Winthrop-Dunne" hat or some of those amazing vinyl record buys (yes, remember when they were VINYL??) that Dave & I scored at Djangos... or maybe those great glass floats from the estate sale... or maybe whatever I find at the next sale! Let me know a softball schedule sometime, I'd like to spectate. Love, ACJ Aunti Cathi Jean | 05.03.04 - 2:41 pm

To make this initial post easier on me, I'm going to modify an email that I wrote recently. Warning: my life is not always interesting, so read at your own risk! I'll start with our trip to Ireland from last November. I was still in school and taking a 10-day vacation just before the end of the term was a bit stressful. Being a business major, classes always require some element of group work. This being my final marketing class, myself and 6 other people (though only 2 other people really pulled their weight) had to write a 120 page marketing proposal and give a 20 minute class presentation. I spent many late nights/ early mornings working on this paper while on vacation. Internet access was slow and rarely available (aside from internet cafe's, but we never stayed still long enough to utilize these). My dad was kind enough to put the family up at the Radisson one night because they could guarantee internet access. That night I was up until 5am working on the paper--and went to a wedding--correction, a LONG wedding the next day. I'm sure I looked pretty pathetic napping in the bar of the hotel in which the reception was held. The wedding was very nice and I met some new people. The woman I was sitting next to had such a strong Irish accent that I had to listen really hard to keep up with the conversation. Our visit was awesome and included most of the counties of both Ireland and Northern Ireland. We traveled nearly 1500 miles (with 5 of us and luggage in a small LandRover!) on the 10-day trip. We visited some places suggested by a wonderful couple (Peter & Rosemary) that we met on our Honeymoon who are originally from Ireland. It was great to visit the Cave House and some of the areas that they spoke of so fondly. The overcast weather made for great diffused lighting for photos. I think some of our best photos were from Giant's Causeway. We ended up giving our families framed photographs from the trip for Christmas. We finally returned to Dublin, flew to Copenhagen, RAN to catch our connecting flight, and then on to Seattle. A three hour drive from there and I was dropped off at a 10pm group meeting to put the finishing touches on our presentation. The next day (and only 3 hours of sleep later) we gave our final presentation and I even got an A. Being my final class, I now have a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration: Marketing and Management. (Side note: We sent Peter & Rosemary a postcard from Ireland to their home in Canada. A month later, just two days before Christmas, they finally received it. Talk about SNAIL MAIL!) Christmas was nice but hectic as well. My dad's parents flew up here from Wichita, Kansas. Daniel & I did well dividing our time between families as well as combining the two on several occassions. We also got about 8 inches of snow in January, which is always awesome. In January, I tried to get used to being out of school and looking for a job. The job market is very bad in our area, so I wasn't having any luck. I finally decided that I wanted to go back to school, though I was torn between an MBA or an MIM (Masters of International Management) degree. I researched and debated for the next month and a half and finally decided to apply for the MIM program. There are 45 total positions in the program, 23 of which must go to international students, leaving only 22 positions for U.S. students. I fretted over my application essays and finally sent them in with my app a week and a half ago. This past Tuesday, I received a letter offering me a position in the program. I am so excited now. The focus of the program is the Pacific Rim business and includes a three week trip to Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai next March. I will start studying in August and will complete the accelerated program in August of 2005. Spring break (the last week of March), was spent on the island of Hawaii with Daniel, his mom, dad and sister. The one week trip was incredibly relaxing for all of us. It was great to be in the warm weather, snorkeling, taking photos, and enjoying the island at our leisure (even if I did get stung by a yellow jacket on the first day). I have now been to all 50 states. I'll have to work on catching Daniel up to that too. At the beginning of the year, my dad was still on unassigned time and beginning to wonder if they were going to push him into retirement. So when they offered him a month long job in Italy (near Milan), he jumped on it. I think he really enjoyed getting back into work. After that job, he got in the same rut of unassigned time until the beginning of March. He ended up going to the Philipines for 5 weeks, living in a remodeled cargo container. The experience was interesting to say the least. He finally boarded a plane at 6am (with the temperature already at 85 degrees) two weekends ago. He left again this past Wednesday to fly to New York for a week of meetings, then it's on to Italy again, this time for a job near Naples through September of 2005. My mom should be moving over there with him in the next month or two. I hope to go over there and visit before the job is up. I will also be going back to Ireland in late June. My mom's mother, who is 85, has always wanted to go. So my mom and I are taking her. I'm going partially for helping out my mom, partially for the experience with my grandma, but mainly to take pictures and record the experience for them. My grandmother will even get to see her grandfather's store in Waterford (John Hearne's Ironmonger). We decided on a tour package to make trip planning easier and make the trip more comfortable for my grandma. Daniel is still the assistant manager at the camera store that we both work at. We are good friends with most of the people we work with, so the environment is great even if the pay isn't. He played softball last year with some of his co-workers and had a blast. This year, the spouses convinced them to have a co-ed team too. So I get to play as well. Daniel is happy that I am going to get my Master's degree and has even said that we can get an apartment in downtown Portland in August to make the situation easier (I currently commute 1 hour each way). He will be going back to school when I am done with my Master's. His interest du jour is Physical Therapy. I am trying to encourage him to do whatever it is that he will enjoy doing. So if that wasn't long-winded enough for you, you must be dying to hear more from me. So keep your eyes open for more posts. Also, please feel free to comment or ask questions on this site.

Comments from Mon, April 19, 2004 Post

Format changed. I am using the new comments feature, so I am posting the previous comments on the site. Glad to see that you are doing this again. Tom Ingram | 04.19.04 - 2:57 am Erin, your life is even cooler than I imagined. Congrats on getting accepted to the MIM program! Andrew Long | 04.19.04 - 9:41 am This is cool, what else can I say? Oh, here's something: Fa-fa Gourmet A.M. Mac | 04.19.04 - 3:08 pm Hi Erin! It so cool to hear from you! Your life is WAY more exiciting than mine. Congrats on getting into the MIM Program!! Jenny Salgado | 04.19.04 - 9:24 pm