The First Day of Class

I hate to say it, but it's harder writing a post when nothing's gone wrong. 

But really, today was lovely. I got up at 7:30, which gave me a good hour to get ready and eat breakfast. It's also nice living right next to class, I've never experienced this before but I'm loving having literally no commute. 

My first class was Nautical Science and it seems the most daunting, maybe just due to the fact that it's taught by our Captain and I don't want to look like a complete moron. I don't know...we got our first assignment and it's a doozy. We have to use our ship route to figure out a whole bunch of questions, it's going to be tough for sure. 

Next was Ocean Science in Public Policy and we basically talked about plastic pollution in the oceans. Our instructor, Erin also debunked a few myths for the class, which I already knew and was hoping they'd dispel. It was, by far, my favorite. I got so giddy knowing that in six short weeks I was going to be out on the open ocean performing research I had been talking about since 2009. But I also got sort of shocked because its just so different here. Things that I'm used to in Oregon just don't happen here, like watershed councils; some people didn't even know what those were! So weird to me...

Last was oceanography. I don't know how much I'll like this class as I've taken a bunch of oceanography classes before but it's never a bad thing to review. On the plus side our instructor is a hoot. He is absolutely ridiculous and the whole class loves him. He's definitely not afraid to share his opinion, especially when it comes to the gov'ment. 

After morning classes we have an hour and a half for lunch. It was so nice out today, not muggy like its been but pretty warm and a cool breeze every now and again. 

Once lunch was done we headed into Woods Hole, MA for a little field trip. 

These are just some pictures of the little park we were at. If you know Massachusetts at all then you might recognize Martha's Vineyard in the distance. 

Nothing too special, but the view is one of those, "you had to be there" sort of things. 

We then stopped at WHOI or the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute where this man showed us a behind the scenes look at a few impressive marine machines

. This picture shows the original Alvin sphere where four scientists would sit when conducting dives in the submersible. 

This is just another cool looking submersible, more sporty and can only go to about 1000 meters. 

And this, is the submersible Director James Cameron used to reach the bottom of the Marianas Trench. This was most impressive to me, gotta give props to James Cameron for being so flipping cool. I love his movies and I love his work for the oceans as well. Much love Jimmy. 

Then it was off to Walmart for some much needed school supplies followed by some delicious stir-fry for dinner and now studying in the student lounge with some others. 

I am pooped though, and I'm kind of regretting not having more time off between work and this but oh well, I'll survive. It will just take some time to get into the swing of things. 

I wanted to also say thanks to everyone who's been reading this blog and keeping up to date on my adventures. It means a lot to me, so keep on reading! Sorry these end up being so gosh darn long too...I'll work on it. Oh! and thanks for the comments too! 

This is why yesterday was one of the worst days of my entire life:

If you read my last post about flying you'll know that yesterday wasn't as spectacular as I had expected. Well let me tell you, when the plane landed in Boston, it didn't get better. 

As I said in my last post, out of the 36 hours I was awake yesterday, I only managed to sleep for 2 of those. Add to that the fact that I ate shitty Denny's fries and a single clif bar all day and you'll start to understand why my first day in Boston was as terrible as it was. 

I do want to preface this post by saying how extremely grateful I am that I made it here to Boston safe and sound with (almost) all my luggage. 

I say almost because I lost two of my quick dry towels which were affixed to the outside of my bag. I am lucky they were the little ones for my hair and noy the big one for my body but I was still pretty bummed. After waiting at baggage claim for about 30 minutes (and being unsuccessful), I decided to try and figure out this whole sleep problem. 

Airports you have never been to are the worst. Especially when you are sleep deprived and on edge. After a bit of searching I found the hotel reservations desk. I was quoted $170 per night for a single room so I gave up on the hotel idea and switched to the idea of staying at a hostel. There was one nearby-ish but it required me taking three buses and I just could not figure it out. I tried on three separate occasions to find the bus I was supposed to be on without any luck. I finally asked someone and he helped a bit, but in the end I wouldn't be thanking him. 

I took the silver line to south station where transit attendants were yelling out information regarding detours. I finally made it to streetside and decided to consult google maps for further directions. I was now only 0.9 miles away and so I decided to walk as the bus directions were very confusing for my wacked out mind. 

My luggage consists of a shoulder strap purse and a 40 pound stuff sack without appropriate handles, of which I blame myself entirely. Let's just say that by the end of the night, and this morning as well, my shoulders are extremely bruised. 

I walked that entire ~mile with that pack and, in the course of waking, asked two cab drivers for a ride. At one point I was 0.6 miles away and he wanted to charge $10. I told him I only had $5 and he refused, driving off while cursing at me. 

I won't tell you at which points in the day I was forced to tears because it was almost non-stop.

I got to the hostel after walking for about a half hour, getting lost twice, losing my specially bought ship anchor earrings (both, ridiculous right?) and starting to feel woozy from being completely out of energy. 

The attendant was the first sympathetic person I had met in Boston and he checked me in promptly. I went up to my room with the intent of passing the fuck out, but instead I cleaned myself up (aka, cleaning the sweat off of myself, I was drenched), got into pajamas and then laid down. However I didn't relax for two minutes before remembering I still had to print my bus ticket for tomorrow (today). 

I then encountered a second nice person in Boston (although, she wasn't from Boston but w/e). I complained about the wifi and then asked her if she knew the password. She said she didn't but that she had a hotspot if I wanted to share. I did. Badly. In the end, I printed my ticket, skyped Gonzalo and played calming pandora music to lull myself to sleep. And now, after waking up peacefully at 6:30 I am happy to say that the worst is over. I know how to get back to the airport for my bus, I have had breakfast and I am ready for an amazing day. Wish me luck everyone. 

Flying: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I haven't been on an airplane since I was about 8 and let me tell you, it's no picnic. I was very much excited to fly, even with all of my change-overs and whatnot; but come departure day I was a complete mess. I knew I would be emotionally drained, crying my eyes out and wishing I didn't want to go while being super excited at the same time. What I didn't expect (and enjoy) was the physical sickness I felt almost the entire trip. 

I got up at 9am on Sunday morning, with the plan of spending the entire day with my husband and pups. I did just that and it was so lovely. Honestly, I really enjoyed my last weekend with my family so very much. But I found myself not eating, and just not feeling hungry, which is really weird for me. I mean, I eat a lot, and I am usually a stress eater so I was very surprised at myself for not feeling hungry. 

But, I went about my day, making sure I was packed and snuggling like there was no tomorrow, because, well, there wasn't. My dad volunteered to drive me to the airport and we left Dallas at 2am so we could grab a bite before my flight, haha, I rhymed. He chose Denny's...it was an awful idea, made more awful by the fact that I had already drank two Starbucks double espresso drinks, but what else is open at 3am?? I felt like shit, so I had some sprite to settle my stomach and some french fries; and by sprite, I mean soda water because their machine was broken and they didn't know it...yeah, Go Denny's. I shouldn't have eaten anything to be honest with you. It was not one of my best ideas. 

I got to the airport and got on my plane without a hitch, was surprised me, but was amazing all the same. 

The takeoff, however, was anything but. The feeling of lifting off the ground, the change in pressure and the frightening feeling of being totally helpless almost made me puke right then and there. I seriously think flying is going to make me more sick than sailing, haha! The hour and 45 minute flight to San Francisco was absolutely terrible. My seat mates were nice enough, an obese father with his fat little boy (whom he fed two donuts to for breakfast) didn't bother me and paid no mind to the tears steaming down my face. But my stomach was in knots the entire flight, I was nauseous and jittery, and tired as fuck considering I had been up for 22 hours straight. 

You can imagine just how terrified I was for my next flight to Boston, a 6 hour flight and I was expecting the worst. 

I managed to use the bathroom before we took off, the one on the plane which made me feel like a fatty because I couldn't even spread my legs open enough to do my business. I can't even imagine anyone bigger than me using those things, absolutely ridiculous. Anyway...

I felt SO much better after going potty, my stomach was finally settling down. Now, I needed to sleep. After staying motionless on the Tarmac for 30 fucking minutes because some dipshits were changing seats and couldn't figure their shit out, we finally took off. I experienced none of the terror and sick that I felt on the flight previous, it was lovely. Well, as lovely as it could be. I folded up my sweater and did my best to get comfortable. Note to self: next time, being a god damn pillow. Jesus. 

I slept for just under 2 hours, that is, I have slept for 2 out of the 27 hours I have now been awake. I'm going to try and sleep some more, but we'll see if I can. I have a feeling sleeping will be an issue for me on this trip, which is weird because I'm usually such a good (and deep) sleeper. 

Ah well, a small price to pay for a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

I am sorry to whine so much, but today hasn't exactly been peachy. I know it will

Improve and I hope you can hang on for the good stuff. 

If anyone's got tips for me to make flying more enjoyable I would appreciate any and all help. When I fly back I have three change overs, so it's going to be rough. 

I look forward to your comments. 

Bittersweet Departure

Yesterday was my last day as a temp with ODOT and I have to admit, I will miss it more than I had ever expected. When I first started this job I was only financially interested but as the weeks passed I found myself caring more and more about my coworkers and the customers I helped. I started looking at procedures to see if there was a way I could streamline them or make them easier for future temps to understand. And on my last day I did what I could to finish up any projects I had started. All in all I consider myself a part of the ODOT Procurement Office team now and I would love, more than anything, to come back to work when I get back from my trip in November.

I have to talk about my last day though, because I never felt so appreciated as I did at any job I've ever had before. I went to work that day with the goal of finishing up my projects, cleaning my desk and eating the salad I brought. I was making progress until my coworker, Lynn, came into the front office and invited Katie (the other temp in the front office, and my dear friend) and I out to lunch at Olive Garden (later decided). Needless to say, it was delicious! And of course, I ate way too much. But isn't that the point of the unlimited soup, salad and breadstick lunch??

When we got back it was quiet for about an hour, we were just cleaning, joking around and reminiscing a bit. That is, until we got an email from Mary about cake in the break room. Below is the picture of the cakes they got for us, professional cakes! Also pictured is the little gift bag and card we each got. Not pictured are the other cards they got for us with a $15 gift certificate to Regal Cinemas!

I wasn't expecting this at all. Even though the office was half empty and we were only temps, it was overwhelming to see just how much they appreciated all the work we had done in our short time with ODOT. 

So there you have it. My last day was amazing. I got my all projects done, I had a super delicious lunch and then finished it off with some cake. 

Even though I am thrilled to begin my adventure with SEA Semester I am sad to leave my family and the summer job which turned into so much more. 

I will do all that I can to come back to work in November and hopefully there's work and a place for me at the ODOT Procurement Office.

And the first tears have been shed.

With my upcoming departure it was only a matter of time before the flow of tears started. However, they were good tears and it was really nice to lay in bed as a family and just cry for a bit. I don't know how I am going to handle these next few months alone but that thought will comfort me during those lonely nights when I just can't sleep. 

I will admit that I am very excited to be going on this trip and I feel privileged to be a part of this amazing program. Seeing as how I haven't been on in a few months I'll fill you in. 

From September to November I will be participating in SEA Semester. Basically I spend six weeks in Massachusetts and then I spend six weeks sailing from there to the Virgin Islands while performing research I developed while in land. I plan on researching the effects of plastic ingestion by fishes and seeing if it has any adverse effects or if they in fact ingest plastic at all! So as sad as I'm going to be at night I will be plenty busy during the day.

I plan on keeping this blog up to date with what I'm doing and I guess I'm starting today. So more tomorrow! 

This is what's going to keep me going today. I will actively make this day better than yesterday. 

I don't know why but for some reason yesterday sucked! Hard! The bright spot was scheduling my next tattoo. I'm so excited!! It's going to look amazing and I cannot wait! 

I'm going on my jog again today and I know I can do it. It's going to be hard but it will be cooler today and I'll have more energy so the five minute straight jog will be no problem at all! I hope...haha!

Marine Plastic: A post about raising awareness

A few weeks ago on Friday February 15th I took part in a SOLVe Beach Cleanup. This is not the first, nor the last, beach cleanup that I will participate in but I felt that, since I now have a blog, I should share my passion. 

Marine debris is a huge problem in the oceans and on shore. I would say this issue is more prevalent now due to the tsunami a few years ago which hit Japan. This debris is now hitting North American shores, and is piquing the interest of beach-goers and locals. However, they are most interested in large pieces of debris such as docks or personal items which survived the journey. These large pieces are not the problem. As you can see in the pictures below, the problem is the small pieces which have been photodegraded by sunlight while travelling in the ocean.

I walked the beach for about an hour and a half, a total of two miles and only collected what you see in this box below. There were literally no 'big' pieces to collect; and what I did find were left by people who had visited the beach. As you can imagine, picking up every single piece of plastic is virtually impossible, especially if you're one person. So, this blog is an invite to all of my friends and family to join me on March 30th in Lincoln City, or any other beach, to partner with SOLVe to clean up our beaches. But I ask you to ignore the big pieces, some chump will pick those up; I challenge you to pick up the small pieces, without taking a whole bunch of sand and organic matter with you. Are you up to the challenge? Please leave a comment below if you plan on taking action on your own Oregon beaches and preventing this plastic from returning to the ocean where it can wreak havoc on the marine environment. 

LCH: Win A Michael Kors Bag!

I just entered to win a Michael Kors bag; I really hope I win!!!

http://honeybeeinthecity.blogspot.com/2013/03/win-michael-kors-bag.html

Life Update

Sometimes you just have to remind yourself of what you are grateful for. I can think of about a dozen reasons (and counting) and for that I am truly grateful. I know that I am blessed, but it's super easy to forget and start taking things for granted. Lately I have been really unmotivated; to the point of leaving my laundry on the floor for weeks, letting the dishes pile up and not making really important (and quick) phone calls. I don't really know why either, but when I'm at home all I want to do is lounge around with my pups! And as much as I love doing that, I tend to really upset myself when I let it happen because I know how much time I am, for lack of a better word, wasting. This is especially true this term as I only have school on Tuesday and Thursdays and am unemployed. However, the most stressful part is how hard I am on myself. This then throws me into this vicious cycle of guilt whereby I don't want to study or clean even more. It's not good...so sometimes, you just have to remind yourself of what you're grateful for. Check out a my short list below and make your own; it can be super helpful when you find yourself in a funk.

1) SEA Semester
From September 3rd to November 18th I will (hopefully, I'm still applying!) be participating in the SEA Semester program. For the first six weeks of the program I will be 'stationed' in Woods Hole, MA where I will learn how to properly run a boat, study oceanic maps and currents and prepare my research topic to study while at sea. For the second six weeks of the program I will be aboard the boat below, carrying out my research project to completion. By the end of this program I will have gained valuable knowledge and skills which will prepare me for my future career. I will also have gained a thesis topic and either partial or full thesis paper from this program as well as experiential learning which will go towards my major and minor degree requirements. Although I will be gone from my family for three months, this experience could not have come at a better time and it is truly an experience of a lifetime. I will miss Gonzalo and the pups like crazy, but I feel this is something I must do; I just know that if this opportunity passed me by I would regret it for the rest of my life. I am extremely grateful to have this incredible opportunity and I cannot wait.

A look through one of the boats' many portholes.

The ship I will be spending 6 weeks on!

Check out their website!

2) Maybelline 24 Hour Superstay Lipstick
I have never, let's say, endorsed any sort of makeup brand or product; but let me tell you, this stuff is AMAZING!! I picked some up yesterday and tried it on the drive home, just for fun. This lipstick stayed on through eating, drinking, kissing and playing with the dogs, which by playing I mean biting them. At the end of the day I had to wash this stuff off! Sure it could have been reapplied to look more fresh, but I was at home so I didn't really care...All in all if you wear lipstick, you should buy this stuff. No longer am I self conscious about my lipstick being on my teeth, face or rubbing off and just looking weird. Having one less thing to worry about is truly miraculous.

3) Pandora Radio
So many people use Pandora and love it for so many reasons. I love it because it allows me to listen to Christmas music ALL YEAR LONG. I don't know what it is about Christmas music, but it always puts me in a good mood and relaxes me. I listen to 'Christmas Piano Dreams' if you want to check it out; no singing, just classic Christmas songs played on a piano by various artists. Visit Pandora Radio by clicking here.

4) Gonzalo and Pups
It's pretty evident why I'm grateful for my fiance and two dogs; they make me blissfully happy. If you didn't know, I'm getting married in May which is another reason to be grateful all in itself, but I'll lump them together for now. I couldn't ask for a better husband. He's caring, attentive, hilarious and passionate & dedicated about his beliefs. But most of all, he loves me and the pups more than anything and that's all I need to know to marry him.

When choosing these photos I realized I don't have that many of Gonzalo. Looks like I'll be taking some in the future!! He hates having his picture taken....

The take away message from this blog post, if it wasn't already obvious, is to be grateful everyday for the things in life you may normally take for granted. Learn to love life and you end up living.

little chief honeybee: Win A Kitchenaid Mixer!

I just entered to win a stand mixer on Little Chief Honeybee. Click the link below to check it out!

little chief honeybee.: Win A Kitchenaid Mixer!