long over due

I have one week of grad school left. Last week was the "White Glove Ceremony" for my program. All of finishing the program were given our unofficial certificate and a pair of white museum gloves. We have to pay $20 for our real certificate. (Really? After giving you thousands of dollars, I have to give you $20 more to prove that I did all those classes? I think that is so silly. Please take that $20 from my materials fees, thanks.)

A person honked at me at a red light the other day. For stopping. At the red light. While  a woman and her child crossed the street. How dare I stop in a situation like that!

I got a spray tan last week. My first ever. I used to have this "thing" against spray tans. Like it was giving in to The Man. Or betraying the sun or something. But I like being tan. Having golden skin makes me feel better about the way that I look and it makes me feel healthier. And in response to that, I tend to treat my skin and myself better, and act healthier. So why not? I could use Trav's discount and have one of his coworkers give me a tan, and I wouldn't have to worry about the skin cancer. The catch was that I wasn't supposed to get any part of my body wet for 10-12 hours. That was so much harder than I thought. I leaned up against the kitchen counter and later found a big white stripe across my stomach. In my sleep, I put my hand on my arm and sweat, and so I woke up with a handprint on my arm. (Fortunately the tan had set by then, and I most just left prints in the bronzer and it evened out...Whew!) 

Here is a crappy picture of my tan afterwards...BIG difference from my white skin. The whitest skin I've had since I was 17. The whitest skin I've had since I've been away from Hawaii the longest since I was 18. 

In other news, we waited outside for 1.5 hours to get doughnuts, and naturally after waiting that long, Travis wanted one of every kind of doughnut. So we came home with nearly $40 of doughnuts and spent our entire Saturday on the couch watching White Collar, eating. It felt so good to honestly and completely RELAX.

into spring

I remember when my blog used to be thoughtful posts on various topics I think about or study. I feel like the past year or two has mostly just been posts about my life to keep friends afar updated. And I'm okay with that. And just so you know, I still think about significant things and insignificant things all the time. But I think most of the time I end up just talking about them out loud and I don't find the time to get around to writing those thoughts here.

Today is no different. Here are some things that have happened lately:

Travis decided to buzz his hair! I think he looks rather handsome, myself. 

Be present in each moment. Enjoy nature's changing beauty. Seek peace and love.

Trav's brother Sean is in town right now! He and I went for a walk through Lincoln Park and into the Zoo the other day, and we came across this lovely sign over looking the pond.

It was such a beautiful day at the museum that I ate outside and took pictures on my lunch break.

Alyssa missed a layover and got to stay the night in Chicago! We stayed up all night talking and giggling and maybe slept for 3 hours before taking her right back to the airport.

The gorgeous weather took a turn for the rainy and foggy. Very Dark Night.

We went to the Field Museum to see mummies but it was sold out! So we got advance tickets for next week.

And instead we spent the afternoon at the planetarium! Sean fell asleep about 5 min. into the star show we saw.

In other news, a job opened up in the education department at the MCA and my supervisors encouraged me to apply. I interviewed this past week, so hopefully I will get it! It is just part-time, but I think it will be a great foot in the door!

Also, my friend Cassie moved to Bermuda, and I found a roundtrip ticket for about $400. I am making a plan and saving up to be able to go to Bermuda this August! Travis and I were talking about how we both always have big plans for traveling but we never go anywhere. We decided that instead of trying to plan travel around our lives, we will just plan far ahead and commit to travel plans, fitting our lives in around it while we are still young. 

So hopefully I will see New York, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Oahu, and Bermuda before the end of the year. That's doable, right?

summer lens

I call my fisheye camera my "summer lens." For some reason the fisheye aesthetic has always breathed summer to me.

i recently developed a new roll of film. these photos are autumn, not summer, but still beautiful i think.

Chicago

Wicker Park Renegade Craft Fair

The new home...for now

My man skating

Multiple exposure

scarecrow fest

A few weeks ago Travis and I went to St. Charles for Scarecrow festival.

St. Charles was SOOO beautiful!

Travis and I stuffed a scarecrow. We put it on the porch and scared the neighbors. It's a really good scarecrow.

Travis had funnel cake for the first time...But took a picture of me.

We paid a little too much many for a ferris wheel ride. (It was worth it and the man let us stay on extra long.) 

And then we looked at all the cool scarecrows

And Travis did the tango with our scarecrow in the elevator. I hope there were security cameras.

some things

:: - I am now eating kale and asparagus on the daily. Finally learning to like veggies.
:: - Chicagoland drivers are REALLY bad. I don't understand how people in the Midwest can be bad drivers. 90% of people have to drive to get anywhere. How can you be so bad at driving, Chicagoland? Speeding at minimum 20 mph over the limit, not using your turn signals, eating, and talking on the phone are all super dangerous - especially at the same time. Please remember cars are tons of metal and explosive things that can easily kill you and other people. Please.
:: - Travis and I are on a homemade pizza kick.
:: - We haven't seen our roommate Amber for more than five minutes in a week or so. She's really busy.
:: - Why is listening to the radio painful? Maybe I don't know which stations are good?
:: - Only people under the age of 4 think I'm funny. And mostly only when I'm dancing. I think I'm okay with this.
:: - The day after I decided to audition for the Glee Project, I got the flu. And then a cold. And now I have a bad cough. I haven't been able to sing for a couple weeks now.
:: - I am writing this instead of the conclusion of my paper. Why am I procrastinating those last few sentences?
::- I am an enabler. If you want to eat a brownie but say you shouldn't, I will support you in eating that brownie. Don't feel like exercising? Come watch a movie with me. Struggling to write that paper? Take a break and get back to it later.
::- Seeing St. Vincent live was terrifying. I always thought she seems sweet and quirky. She was angry and I half expected her to kill everyone in the audience with her music.
::-There are too many good bands coming to the Chicago area. We actually have to pick and choose because it would be too time consuming and expensive to go to every show. We did however fork out the cash for Feist, Portugal the Man, and Bon Iver. And we're probably going to go to Lykke Li with First Aid Kit. And maybe the National with Local Natives (if it isn't sold out).
::-I get to see my parents and my dog next weekend!
::- Here is a really funny picture:

wicker park

Trav, Ting, and I went to Wicker Park for a ridiculously over-priced craft festival:

I knew that leaving Hawaii would be hard, but I really felt it was time to move on. I wasn't happy at work and I wanted to return to school, but there was no other job for me there and no other schooling for me there. Time for another adventure.

And even though I was sad to leave, I knew that I'd always have family to return to, and I had already decided I want to move back one day. Hawaii is where I want to settle and have a family. I know it may  not have the best schools in the country, but the community really supports its youth. Everyone is family, and that is a really comforting feeling - to know that my kids could go to the park by themselves and whatever aunty or uncle is at the park that day will watch out for them.

ANYWHO:

I was hardly prepared for how difficult it would be to go from living with 11 other people to living by myself, and then to living with two other people. I had no idea how difficult it would be to say good by to the family who took me in for the past two years. As I finished packing my suit case before I left for the airport, Sara (niece, age 3) packed herself a suit case too and said she was coming with me. And it broke my heart to tell her that she couldn't. And it broke my heart again when we skyped a couple weeks later and she asked me to be her date to her birthday party this fall. And then it kills me to be missing Waylen's (brother, age 9) football games - he started tackle football this fall. I had no idea how hard it would be not to hear Ciera (niece, age 9) singing every day. I miss talking with her and hearing her stories about her day. I had no idea how hard it would be to miss Michele's (sister, age 15) junior year of high school. I even miss Sean (brother, age 21) playing video games all night and yelling at the tv. I miss hearing him play the guitar, and I miss his laugh. I had no idea how hard it would be to hug Chantel (sister, age 29) goodbye while we both cried. And of course then there's Mama, Aunt Aud, Chase, and Chelsea. I keep expecting Mama to come home from work, Aunt Aud to be making something amazing in the kitchen while she gives the best advice. And what about Chelsea and Chase? Shouldn't they be in the other room?

Even though I am happy to be on a new adventure, I cannot wait to be back in my Hawaii home again.

I'm totally going to be that mom who cries on her kid's first day of school. 

clean start

i am still unpacking and putting life together, but here are some photos of my house, campus, and the city

welcome rug

campus (hogwarts)

flowers on campus

view of adams outside union station

art institute museum

evening falling

the magnavox 

putting the bookshelf together

buckingham fountain

and so on, and on

since january i've probably worked more hours that i've worked in my life to this point. i am so glad our office gets along so well, or all those 50-60 hour weeks would have been miserable.

now it's may.
in the past months i've listened to some new music. bought some new clothes, gave away some old clothes. spent time with my friends. said goodbye to friends. i've eaten out several times a week and have managed to never get enough sleep. i've played zombies with children and read books with my mother. i've spent rainy days in bed and some sunny days at the beach. and i've been making plans

and now i have one more month of work at the translation company.

and then i'll return to iowa to help my parents pack up our house. my dad got a new job and my mom is retiring, and they are moving. and i got into a graduate program in illinois.

and travis and i are moving there this august.

in the next months i expect to do lots of packing. i hope to spend lots of time with my friends and at the  beach. i want to eat lots of food that i won't be able to eat in illinois. i want to stock up on hello panda, pocky sticks, sour hula keiki, arare, li hing mui, and hi-chew. i'm really excited to spend a good chunk of time back in iowa. i'll be sad to say goodbye to the house we built when i was eight, but my parents already have plans to build a new one. they are moving on and so am i.

i look forward to being able to take road trips to see my friends. i look forward to seasons, to good ole midwestern food and milk and grocery prices.

i'll be seeing you soon, chicago!