The Story of Doug and Ana

It's our 5 year anniversary, y'all!
That felt so unnatural...

December 16th, 2006, a pretty awesome day in history.

Doug and I met whilst I was singing as a 2nd Soprano in Twilighters (way before Twi-hards everywhere started calling themselves the same). He was the sound guy, it was his job to make me sound awesome and the rest of the group too (also to turn off the mics of those who oversang the crap out of everything).


That was awkward me, in the 2nd Soprano T-Shirt and some of my awesome singing buddies (I love you guys).

 Doug wanted to ask me out, but he didn't have my digits, so he asked my good friend Jana if he could get my number, and then Jana called me immediately to let me in on what was going on. What a good friend.

I was sort of flirting (me, a flirt, no way) with this other guy at the time that Doug asked me out, but to be fair as soon as Doug asked me to be his girlfriend I stopped writing notes, and made sure the other dude didn't walk me to class anymore.

We went to a local Japanese restuarunt, that is undoubtably not there anymore, called Kame. They gave us chopsticks instead of American flatware! Sadly, I asked for a fork.....

I'm skilled with chopsticks now, just 16 year old Ana was not that coordinated.

It was a double date, so we all went back to Doug's place, to his makeshift bedroom in his parents garage that was lovingly referred to as "The Box", because it was literally, a box (a livable box though, not like a cardboard box or anything), oh and it was painted pink (Blushing Bride to be exact).


Doug and I @ Winter Formal



We were all talking about watching a movie, so we decided to watched American History X. Which coincidentally is not a good first date movie. After the curb stomping scene I told Douglas I needed to get home becuase of some fake curfew that my Dad never gave me, and Doug drove me home. But really, I just didn't want to cry my eyes out on our first date. It's a good movie though.

And with that small goodnight kiss was born our undying love for each other. Not really, we broke up (for like 5 days) right before prom, but we rekindled our love and have been together ever since (and yes we ended up going to prom together as a couple).

Happy Anniversary Doogle!

Side note: Happy 2nd Birthday Buddy, you are so adorable! Look at that face....now stop stinking like vomit, and we will have it made. Or maybe I should say, stop eating rocks, dirt and twigs!




Young Buddy

 
I love December, its full with my Anniversary Christmas parties, potlucks, Secret Santa's and best of all Christmas! Happy December everyone! And thank you Jana for giving Doug my phone number.

XOXO, Ana

2 of the Best and 2 of the Worst Jobs

I'm starting to find my groove here at work, finally. The first few months were sort of rough for me. I didn't understand what I was doing, but I knew I was doing it wrong. That's the worst of both worlds (I don't know if that phrase is supposed to be inverted like that, but it was certainly the opposite of  "the best of both worlds").

I'm the kind of person who wants clear direction, especially when it comes to complex evaluations for sustaining lives of children and families that need support. But you know, to each their own.

I have been fortunate to have honestly liked 90% of my past jobs. They were fun, or at least interesting, or if they weren't either, at least it was something to do. My favorite job of all time, and will always be my #1 is working at Hovland Computer Labs as a student worker at Oregon State University (Go Beavers!). My boss understood that first I was a student, and then I was his employee. He wanted to nourish my learning, not hinder it. I tried my hardest to model my managerial style after his, but different institutions value their employees in different ways.

Weatherford Hall = prettiest dorm ever!

Also, I made some kick ass friends for that 3 year stint at Hovland. Lifelong friends (Kim knows what I'm talking about), which are very hard to find.

 My 2nd favorite job was working at Florida State University, the people, my employees, they taught me so much, mostly how to strongly word your emails to make them almost crap their pants. I love those kids (kids = college students that were about 4 years younger than me). I miss them everyday.

University Center A: Where Admissions (among other, lesser things) is.

My least favorite job was my first "real" job (I did telemarketing for an insurance company under the table when I was 14). I was working at Deli Yogurt Express in my small hometown of McMinnville. I didn't need a food permit, but I had to make sanwhiches and wraps, and serve fro-yo. The no-food-permit thing should have been my first clue that this wasn't a legit place to work, but I didn't really care. My second clue would have been that there were gnats in the lettuce. My third clue was that this food establishment was sharing a building with a sketchy video rental/consignment boutique. MAN, those are a TON of clues, I was such a dense kid!

My shift manager had food issues, and would cry almost every shift and have to call her mother. It was scary, and her underwear would always be whale tailing out of her shorts, yikes!

The last straw was one day my car (the big blue beast plymouth acclaim) didn't start so I couldn't come in to work my shift, and I called my boss and he screamed at me, and made me feel horrible. I hung up the phone and cried, then my Dad came home from work, and I told him what happened and he called up my boss and told him I would be coming by to collect my last check. My Dad is amazing, he rescued me!

My other least liked job would be, the nursing home internship. I felt like I walked into a prison. The inmates, I mean, old people, would try and hide food at lunch and dinner, some would just put the food in their mouth and pocket the food in their cheeks like rodents. The nurses would have to come by and finger out the food in their mouth. UGH! Gross. Also, I saw an inordinate amount of poop from this experience.

 And just so you know, I think poop jokes are hilarious. I'm pretty sure I have the sense of humor of a 15 year old boy. But when I'm forced to observe poop(ing), it is no longer is a laughing matter.

On that note, you guys should all be grateful that your jobs do not suck, like really badly. Everyone's job sucks a little, but at least you don't have to feed people gnat infested lettuce, or deal with bodily fluids.

What are your favorite/least favorite jobs?

Flagstaff is a horrible HORRIBLE town.... maybe?

We were heading to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago to visit Doug's younger brother, we will call him "Bobby" (since I don't know if wants to be featured in my blog). He just bought a gorgeous condo in Las Vegas, so originally we wanted to go to help him paint, but the painting was 99% done so we didn't lift a finger (we are such nice people).

On the way down there we passed through Flagstaff, Arizona but not without the attention of some sneaky cops. They weren't really sneaky, but they did hide extremely well. Doug drove for most of the trip, but I decided to jump behind the wheel since the landscape was wonderful and all the "major cities" we went through felt like small towns, which gives me no anxiety to drive through them. I maintained a speed between 5-10 miles over the speed limit, which mind you, was the exact same speed my husband was just driving too, and I got pulled over.

It went down like this.

Me: "Doug isn't the snow on these hills gorgeous. Flagstaff is not such a bad place!"
Doug: "Yeah, its really pretty"
Me: "OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP THERE IS A COP!" (he was nestled between two pretty hills)
Then he got up next to me, and slowed down, and as soon as he turned on his lights, I turned on my hazard lights instead of my turn signal and pulled off to the side of the road.

While he was running my plates to see if  I was driving a stolen car, Doug got out my license and our registration out. He is such a good husband, if he were to get pulled over, I would have been frozen, and wouldn't have been able to compose myself around the officer, and I probably would have turned on the hazard lights.

The cop asked me if I knew how fast I was going, and figuring that honesty is the best policy, I decided to say..."Oh, I don't know, around 85", I immediately felt stupid for telling him I was CLEARLY breaking the law, its basically like running up to a cop and saying "I'm breaking the law!" but in this case the cop said "Yes, I did clock you in at 85". I thought for sure he was going to write me a ticket, and then I'd have to feel guilty for the rest of our Vegas trip, but he said the magic words "I'll just write you a warning".

Flagstaff isn't so bad afterall. The warning came back with a clocked speed of 79 mph! What a nice guy!

The rest of the trip went off without a hitch! We visited fancy casino's and plenty of awesome local casinos, that were off the strip. Thats where we won the most money. The last place we visited was called The Canery and it was all 1940's pin up themed, it was so cute! And this guy fell asleep on a slot machine next to me, which was highly entertaining.

I love that she is so CLOTHED! It was nice seeing that for a change (Vegas can be gross).

Then it was back to work for Doug and I, and I was dragging for 3 days after we got back.

In other news, I saw Twilight: Breaking Dawn, last Friday and it was awesome, except I miss the enthusiam of southern movie goers. They cheer, and clap, and laugh, I miss that. The movie was overall an awesome one, but it did have some horrible scenes, like any that had those CGI wolves, ugh, they are so poorly done, they should hire WETA (the nerds who did Lord of The Ring), those guys are AWESOME!

Stupid Twilight with its horrible CGI

                                              VS.

Awesome LOTR with its elephant-y animals

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving, I know I will. "Bobby" is coming over from Las Vegas, and we plan on watching some Ghostbusters, and making an awesome turkey dinner; jealous?

Did you say...OREGON?!

I keep on hearing people say stuff about my homestate, and I am getting more and more homesick. I miss the people, you know the people that wear hiking shoes everyday, carry backpacks instead of diaper bags, and have several The North Face fleeces that they wear on rotation.

I also miss the proximity to my family. I want to be able to see them on the weekends, watch movies with them, cook for them (ok, I've never cooked for them, but I've helped them cook before, and I miss that!). I miss my dad singing in the kitchen, and dancing (usually doing the twist, to ANY song he hears). I miss you guys soooo much.

I miss my friends! These are the friends that I've known for years! Some since middle school, and they just get me, I don't need to introduce myself, or censor myself, they know my sense of humor.

I miss the trendy eco friendly peeps, that recycle..Oh, how I miss the statewide understanding that EVERYONE recycles!

And the BEACH!
Florida kind of wins this battle, because the beaches there are freakin' GREAT!

How can you argue with that?

But most of all, I just miss Oregon!
  

and this amazing game.

It's baby makin' time

This past year and a half has been some of the best and worst times of my life. I decided to take myself off of hormonal birth control January 2010, and do a little something called Fertility Awareness Method, read Taking Charge of Your Fertility for all the gory details.

I discovered quite quickly that there is something wrong with my womanly hormones. My cycles were inconsistent at best, long and torturous at worst.

In August of 2010 Doug and I began not trying to stop a pregnancy from happening (or to be more straight forward we were actively not preventing conception to occur, ok, OK we were trying for a baby). But things just weren't happening. I talked to my doctor who agreed to get some blood work tested for the common
things PCOS (Polysystic Ovarian Syndrome), etc. The findings showed that certain hormones (Prolactin) were elevated, which would be great it was a pregnant, but I wasn't and I certainly did not have PCOS. So WTF body, what is wrong with you?! We re-tested my Prolactin levels and my doctor noted that if the Prolactin levels were high one more time, that could be an indication of Hyperprolactinemia, but she wouldn't be able to diagnose me with it because I would need an MRI to see if I had a tumor causing this spike in hormones. The tests came back ever so elevated over "normal". I freaked out, and ordered an MRI stat, by this time it was December, still nothing baking in my oven, and now this.

Doug got an MRI earlier that year for some knee issues, and the lovely MRI techs all let him see his pretty pictures after the procedure. I on the other hand was not so lucky. I laid in a warm magnetic tube that  was loud, it sounded like techno music (without a catchy hook), blaring at me for 50 minutes.

Three days later they told me I had a pituitary tumor. I had a mini meltdown, oh and by mini I mean major. In doing research I saw that Hyperprolactinemia/Tumors go hand in hand, and depression, and craziness, and all sorts of horrible things come along with it. I was having this breakdown because I didn't want to end up like my mother. She is crazy, to the max, a pathological liar, and taught me nothing, well that isn't completely true, she did teach me how to keep a family fed, pay bills and have patience for child like adults. But these things really shouldn't concern a 6-10 year old, ever. With this diagnosis, I saw myself turning into her. I thought, OH SH!#% I am turning into a crazy, hence the major meltdown.

Doug was amazing at this time. He assured me that crazy people, don't have the self reflection to even know they are crazy. And I was not/would never be anything like my own mother. My dad and brother reiterated this point strongly. I have such good guys in my life.

In future blood tests my doctor saw my Prolactin levels drop. My cycle was still irregular, so my doctor started me on Clomid. It's a miracle drug that makes my body do what its supposed to, and helps me catch the pregnancy. Too much Clomid makes me feel dizzy, and gives me hot flashes. Oye vay!

In late March I started feeling gross, coffee wasn't palatable, I had a weird appetite. My DAE (dopey, yet adorable employee) even came by to go get me coffee, and I turned him away....but I did make him go get me food. Something was off.

I was feeling a little (a lot) hopeless, in this whole baby making adventure. As I was watching Prince William marry Kate Middleton, I decided to take a pregnancy test. Then I went back to being all royally obsessed for the next 15 minutes. I casually went to the restroom, and glanced down at the two pinks lines and flipped out! I ran out to Doug in the living room, waving my pee stick in the air (like I just don't care) and crying. He said "Take another one!" so I did, this time it was a beautiful blue + sign. YAY! I was totally pregnant!

I called my doctor that morning, and said I took 2 tests and I'm sure I'm pregnant. I went to go get a blood test (which also turned out to be positive), and scheduled my first OB appointment. I was finally a pregnant lady! I got an ultrasound to make sure everything was up to snuff, but I was measuring a week behind, But I saw the little sac of cells, and got all gushy towards my womb. I kept thinking that my body would catch the little baby blob up to speed soon enough.

I journaled like a mad woman, I wanted to write down every sign/symptom/feeling etc. so I could tell my future child just how awesome the experience was.

Weeks later I went back for an ultrasound and check up, and I could see the heart flickering. The baby's heartbeat was a strong 120 beats per minute (in the normal range for babies)!

I had a single sharp pain on June 2nd. It felt like a shock. I decided to ignore it for a solid 24 hours, then I succumbed to internet message board pressure to just go get checked out. I scheduled a first-time-pregnant-and-paranoid ultrasound. The ultrasound tech pulled all her best moves, but we still couldn't see anything inside the gestational sac. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I started hysterically crying, like a 5 year old, I was hiccuping, inconsolable, and mostly just devastated. The ultrasound tech was a pro, she had done this before, and she was the most kind, most tender person in that room (besides my husband). However, the overall OB experience was that of horror stories, let me preface by saying my normal OB was out that day. They tried to rush me in for surgery at 5pm that day so they could remove the sac, and clear me all out. I wasn't having it, and I came back to talk to my real doctor about my options, and after running a few more tests just to be sure and getting one more ultrasound she prescribed me some medication to jump start the inevitable. The process was long, and horrible, and painful, but I miscarried mostly at home, and then I went in for a check up in late June and it was over.

No more baby. Completely gone.

One thing that I should mention is my friends and family really helped me get through this rough time in my life. Here are some things that you shouldn't say to a person that JUST miscarried,

"All things happen for a reason".
Although the above statement is true, it is not comforting.

"At least you know you can get pregnant".
This point will become comforting way later, but if I just miscarried, I don't need a reminder that I was just with child.

A few things that you should say,

"I'm so sorry for your loss". *hug*
"I love you and I'm here for you". *hug*

I'm still remaining hopeful that I will get pregnant again, and I will get through the entire pregnancy and have a wonderful bundle of joy to call my own. I hope to be an Alma Mater to my own flesh and blood eventually. Alma Mater means Nourishing Mother, my dear employees, diva Murry: Mary and MarBEASLA: Marlesa gave me that nickname,  I love you all. No one ever talks about miscarriages, I want to change that. The experience can feel isolating, and frustrating. I know a few people that have had miscarriages before me, and I have been eternally grateful for their candid openness to help me through my difficult time. If you guys have any questions, or have stories of your own to share, then do it! I am here for you.

The important questions of life.....

Why are we here?

What is my purpose?

and probably the most important question to ask is...

Who will go see Twilight with me in November?

I think I found a Twilight fan at work, WHOOOHOOO! All is not lost. I'm pumped. Groan all you want Stephanie Strahan (and the other 50% of my friends who hate all Twilight fans), but Twilight is coming to an end, and I need my vampire/werewolf/human love triangle fix. And before you start attacking me in posts, just know that I think the concept is ridiculous, and I understand that it wasn't well written. I can't read the word "chagrin" without cringing, but damnit, I love the story behind it, you know boy meets girl, boy wants to kill girl, boy and girl fall madly in love, etc, etc.

Doug has already stood his ground, he will not be seeing the films. Good for him, except when they come out on DVD I will tie him down and force his eyes open so he can take in all the diamond skin gloriousness that is Edward Cullen.


I can hardly wait....

I have a crush on a every boy...

That's a quote from Teen Girl Squad, and if you haven't heard of TGS, then you need to go here, and check them out.

I do get crushes easily, my lastest infatuation is with Zooey Deschanel. Just look at her, she looks SOOOO good (another quote from Teen Girl Squad, seriously, you will need to go watch TGS before reading this blog entry). She is quirky, and cute, and not a whore. Those are qualities really hard to come by in Hollywood. She is my #1 girl crush (ok, maybe #2, Selma Hayek is and always will be my #1).

My second, and I think my longest (since 1996) crush, is Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers. He's really easy on the eyes. Doug thinks he looks like a crack head, but I find his features (read: sunken in cheeks and puffy eyes) endearing. I met him once when I was 16 or 17 after one of his shows in Portland, OR, I could feel his facial stubble on my cheek as we posed for our picture, I'm pretty sure that is what heaven is going to feel like. He's also the son of Bob Dylan, and if you knew High School Ana, then you know I LOVE ME SOME BOB DYLAN!



He's undeniably gorgeous





Again, how can you argue with this?

I have a major theme going here, I dig people with dark hair and blue eyes, the contrast is gorgeous! My mother has blue eyes, and my father-in-law has blue eyes, so I'm pretty much banking on the fact that Doug and I will have blue eyed, brown haired children one day, yay!

I'm not 100% sure how genetics work, but I'm pretty sure I have like a 90% chance of cute kids.

For those of you that don't know me, I'm really not that stupid.

Note: My second longest (since 1997) crush goes to Conan O'Brien, I guess I have a thing for lanky, pale, nerdy, self depreciating guys too, swoon.

It's FALL!

There is nothing better than waking up to a crisp cold morning, and a beautiful sunrise coming over the mountains, well that's not true, seeing a pretty girl fall, would probably make my week (I'm not really mean, it just humanizes them, they are normal people, who lose their balance and fall over sometimes).

Anyways, it feels like Tallahassee's winter here already! The leaves are changing and falling rapidly. People are even talking about snow already. I didn't know how much I missed Fall until now. I love it. And it's October, you know that that means..yup HALLOWEEN! I'm pumped about Halloween this year, because each unit at my work has a theme, and this year our theme is "the roaring 20's", how freakin awesome is that?!

Dressing up is always a blast, last year I was one of the Spice Girls (don't worry I wasn't alone on this one, we had a full group of 5 women dress up, I was scary spice)! But this year I have a big opportunity, I could go the classic route, flapper girl, cute wavy hair, bright red lips, or as a gangster girl, with a pin stripe suit, Fedora, and bright red lips with wavy hair (notice the trend), but that is sooo conventional, and I much rather be the funny girl than the cute girl, so with some thought I found myself searching for theme appropriate attire that would make me laugh. I'm going as a barrel of beer, since the prohibition was in the 20's. My history teachers should all applaud themselves.

And mind you I won't be a sexy barrel (is there such a thing?). Every time girls dress up they always tend to go as the sexy version, so lame. I will be sure to post some pictures of my endeavors. I think I will mark my barrel as booze, and carry around a large beer mug, just so people aren't confused. I am 100% sure that I will be the only one fully covered non sexified version of the roaring 20's, and I couldn't be happier!


this is going to be awesome

feeling aged anyone?

So, I have always been the youngest. I am the youngest child in my family, most of my friends are older. But everyone seems to think I'm middle aged, matronly, or just plain old! I have examples.

1. Driving my then boyfriend (now husband) to get his wisdom teeth pulled, the doctor wouldn't talk to Doug at all, she was talking directly to me, later someone said, your son is ready, and I was all REALLY? WTF MAN?! I am in college still, I have funky framed glasses with green and black on them, and an OSU sweatshirt on!

funky framed glasses not shown above

2. On our way home from our honeymoon we got bumped off our flight, because Delta thought that we never arrived...which was totally untrue since we were standing right in front of them. They blamed other people, so we ran around the airport at 3am trying to get a flight booked with the other people, and then it turned out that the only way to get home was through Delta I kind of lost my cool (I was sleep deprived and I had a nasty cold, which I had since day 2 of the honeymoon....hot, i know!), it was then that the Delta agent said to Doug, "Your mother needs to calm down", and then I think World War III broke out, or I sat and cried while Doug called his parents to get advice on how to get home.

Morning of day 2, by the end of this day I was a wreck, and pretty much stayed that way for 1.5 weeks.

3. Working as a receptionist at FSU, a college student came in, asked for something, left, and then called our office to tell the the office that the person who greets students (so, me) that the advice she got from the middle aged dark haired woman at the front might be wrong. Whoa, yeah, let me tell you something, I was so angry, but I couldn't really react to the two insults, one I middle aged, and two, I was wrong. So I sat in stunned silence. Oh and I double checked my work, I was right, what a B-word. And I was only 23 at the time!

4. And finally, I think it was last year, that my 19 year old dopey, yet adorable, employee informed me that anyone over 20 is over the hill. Don't worry, I slapped him for it (actually, I did slap him, it was right after I slapped my boss, and as a going away present for me he let me slap him).

I've been hired at a place that is, again 99% women, and the girls that were hired with me are younger. I have trouble relating to younger people.  What do you youngens like to do? I need help! Any suggestions?

What is with people?!

 I have heard so many stupid things in my lifetime. But sometimes it catches me off gaurd when I hear something so utterly moronic coming from an educated source. Like:

 

"Pregnant women should smoke to ease constipation."

 

Really? What the heck man?!

 

Let's just think about that for a moment............um no, they shouldn't smoke, no one should.

  

I'm so proud that I have never said anything quite THAT lame before. I'm also proud to be a non-kiss-ass. If I like my coworkers, lead workers, bosses, directors, it's because I actually like them, not because I want them to love me and promote me.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like to be liked. I feel like I've been pretty well liked throughout my life (with an expection or two thrown in there), and I want to keep that going. But I'm just saying I will not follow around people of authority/seniority just because I think I need to be a brown noser to get ahead.

 

I will not bake them homemade goods just because they sign my checks, I will not attend every party they throw just because I fear that if I don't they will hate me and make my life a living hell. I will not join them for their smoke breaks just so I can inhale toxins and be close to the person who controls my work life.

 

In other news, I am in love....with cream soda! lol. It reminds me of butterbeer, and there is nothing on this earth better than some Hogsmeade butterbeer from the Wizarding World or Harry Potter. I miss Orlando.

 

And I miss all/most of my amazing employees from FSU, you know who you are, no not you....how did you get a link to my blog?!

 

Which brings me to my last point. Where are all the girls? I don't want to date them, but I want to be friends with them. But to be fair I do usually get girl crushes (and just crushes on everyone i.e. last night I was watching these nerds on a national geographic show build and fly a house using balloons, like they did in the movie Up, and the math guy was SOOOOO adorable, I made Doug stop playing video games to show off my new crush). I need to get some cute girl friends (not girlfriends) quickly. I don't think Doug can handle all the girl talk vomit that is just pouring out of me.

The Dream Job

We arrived here on a Sunday, and were camping out in a hotel for a few days before our stuff arrived. On Tuesday I got a call from the Department of Human Services who wanted to set up an interview with me for Thursday. We were set to receive our belongings on Wednesday, so I thought, "perfect timing, YES!"

I scoped out the place it was the division of child support. This is what I went to College for (go Beavs!), its what I tried to find when I moved to Tallahassee. I was so nervous on my interview day that I was making myself sick.

I drove to this convenient location that was literally right across the street from Doug's Park and Ride drop off/pick up location (he commutes 2 hours a day to work in Los Alamos and we share one vehicle, so he used the Park and Ride bus that many professionals use to work in Los Alamos).

Four ladies interviewed me, they were relaxed, cracking jokes, and poking fun of each other. I was a little distracted by their playful chatter, I almost forgot I was being interviewed. I was only there for 30 minutes. I thought it went well, but really, who can judge, I thought all of my interviews had gone well in the past.

A week went by and I heard NOTHING. I was sure that I didn't get the job. I knew they had contacted my previous employer (see "How to Slap Your Boss" post), but that was DAYS ago. They must have called the references of a few different candidates and ruled me out.

I even started applying for assistant jobs...ugh, how I hate administrative assistant jobs, I always feel like there is better use of my time than doing that kind of work, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And the work is not beneath me, its just not my dream job.

Jacob found our crazy straw and decided to get CRAZY!

Today I got a call after 5pm, it was my dream job calling, I was in! WHOOOOHOOOOO! Now where is Jacob, I need to go dancin'! Oh, that's right, Tallahassee...boo.










In other news, while I was cutting my husbands hair on our back porch I got bit by a strange desert bug that I am apparently allergic to. About 48 hours later, and my eye was back to normal. This is what happens when you do nice things for your husband, nature punishes you.

It was a struggle trying to keep my eye open :(

to volunteer or not to volunteer

While I'm applying and interviewing for other positions should I take up some volunteer work?

There is this wonderful organization called The Birthing Tree here in Santa Fe, and if you guys know me I love to be around pregnant ladies, and Mormons. 

Let me know what you think!

The graduation, the move, and the settling in

My last day working at the University was wonderful. My students all pitched in and bought me this awesome cake....with my face on it...it was creepy watching people eat my face and they made me lovely card! I loved my staff. I miss them dearly.

Doug graduated! his whole family came in to town to attend the ceremony, and then we took a short cruise to the Bahamas.
I'm not sure if that last part is correct because the passed few weeks have been a blur.

Then we drove, and drove, and drove! New Orleans was nice, it was a little dirtier than I was imagining, and I'd love to REALLY see the city instead of just stay there overnight.

Once we got into Texas, I was over the whole road trip thing. there were NO rest stops only picnic areas with no bathrooms (yeah, wtf is right!), and if you happen to stop at a random gas station, you are probably putting yourself at risk for contracting a communicable disease. Then there was Dallas, oh lordy how i hated Dallas, the traffic, the jerks that wouldn't let you merge, it was horrible!

The next day we were in New Mexico, it was weird. I felt like saying, "OK, when are we going back to Tallahassee?" I certainly didn't feel like we were moving there.

Despite some small hiccups like our management company leaving the balcony door open and flooding our loft/nerd area, and missing a table and box from our move, things have been pretty smooth.

I had an interview on Thursday of last week, for a job I actually want! We'll see how that goes.

I'm uber proud of my Dr. Doug. I will keep you all posted on any new developments. I think the long drive and proximity to witty people like The Wards has made my wit dry up. I will continue searching for the well of wit, but in the mean time, send me all of your good luck vibes for this job.

That's Doug in his PhD robe/hood and his Harry Potter wand.
Our colors are garnet and gold...Go Gryffindor, errr..I mean, Noles

Peace,
Ana

How to Properly Slap your Boss: A Guide to Slapping the People that Employ You

I had a wonderful going away dinner last night at my favorite local Italian food restaurant. The drinks were half price, so many of my coworkers took full advantage of this. I, on the other hand, did not feel the need to drink, especially on a Tuesday. But I do love taking care of the needy drunks that I call friends (not all of you are needy or drunks, or friends (I KID). I don't mind taking care of my friends whatsoever).

My boss was no exception. She pounded down 3 LARGE beers and her small frame just can't handle that much alcohol. My fun night of dinner and drinks with my coworkers was coming to an end, but I noticed Ms. Slurring-Her-Words over there was ready to go, but I insisted that she drink some coffee, and stayed there until her sentences were no longer words mashed together into one long confusing word.

Dr. Doug mentioned how the Mythbusters experimented with sobering up techniques which included coffee, and slapping. 

And so the thought was planted, we "inception"ed her drunk mind, and so she exclaimed, "SLAP ME!". It was as if the stars aligned in this perfect serendipitous moment. I'm pretty sure I heard angels sing.

I gave her a weak slap....at first. I thought she was kidding. I was wrong. She wanted a slap-me-sober whomp, and I gave it to her THREE TIMES!

It was quite possibly the best night ever. She slapped me once too, probably as a little payback. Nothing in my life has been quite as fulfilling as slapping my boss.

I always dreamed of slapping/punching someone right in the face. "How dramatic", I thought to myself, "it would never happen!" A few months ago my student worker promised me that he would let me punch him in the face as long as I didn't hit his eye or nose (getting hit in the nose will make anyone tear up, and I think he wanted to seem more manly by not crying when a girl punched him). So I agreed, and then my student worker backed down! How dare he! We had a verbal agreement! I should fire him. Maybe not, he is too entertaining to cut loose.

 And so there you have it folks, here is your guideline on how to properly slap your boss...like a boss!



Sincerely Yours,
Slap-Happy Ana

Welcome!

Its my first blog! I feel very unsettled like I am always moving away from my favorite people or places, hence the name of my blog.

This blog is going to be dedicated to pictures and events that are happening around me or to me. I was going to name it "OMG did you see that?!" but that was taken already. 

Oh how rude of me, let me introduce myself. My name is Ana (ah-na), please say it correctly or I will punch you (kidding...kind of). I'm an Oregonian that has lived in Florida for four and a half years and I'm about to set forth on a new journey to New Mexico.

I have been married since December 2006 to a wonderful man, Doug, but you can refer to him as Dr. Doug, or as my dear friend Emily would say Duh-duh-duh-duh-Doug. She's sweet. Doug got his PhD over these passed 4.5 years and will be participating in the ceremony this Saturday, I'm swelling with pride!

We have two very intelligent dogs Tato (like potato) a 10 lb terrier mut, and Buddy a 70 lb long haired retreiver/irish setter/??? mix. He's precious, and a little dopey.

Hmmm, well, now that I've introduced you to the basics in my life, lets get into the meat and potatoes of this blog.

I'm moving next week. Yes, really! I should be stressed, but I'm not, I'm going the Oregon route and staying relaxed and calm about this whole transition.

I was stressed about moving to Florida though. I didn't want to leave behind my family, or dear friends. I had never visited Tallahassee before we moved here, that might be the scariest thing I've ever done. I also never experienced extreme humidity, or cockroaches before (check, and check).

People kept telling me that Tallahassee is real "southern" and I was worried about the KKK and racism. Its sad that this was the first thing that popped into my head, but history books are good at telling the stories of people that went through slavery, and civil war. I was preparing myself for the worst. The first year was rough, I did in fact meet people that were racist.

For the most part I was pleasantly surprised moving to the south. most of the people I met were extraordinary, they were nice (southern hospitality), open minded, and willing to teach me the ways of the south, which include sweet tea, and sweet tea + vodka. The weather was insane, the rain was different, huge fat drops everywhere that lasted about 30 minutes, and then the sun, bright shiny summer sun every day.
That's Tallahassee in a nut shell.

I'm thrilled to move, especially in the heat of these summer days in Florida. I've visited New Mexico too, and it is AMAZING, it reminds me of the hippies of Oregon, but with the summer sun of Florida (sans humidity).

I will make sure to keep you all up to date on the ins and outs of my new adventure.

hugs not drugs,
Ana