Looking back and maybe forward

Hmmmm...

Looking back on my blogs of years past, I find that I miss being able to use this medium as a way to stay in touch with people that I don't often get to see or catch up with.  This has especially been the case the last few years as many of us have gotten married, moved away, started new jobs or families...or all of the above.

Based on that thought, as well as searching for a way to help channel some of the stress I've been going through with my own commitments these days, I think it might be time to at least try to resurrect this blog...one post at a time, anyway.  Finding time in my life right now to do anything other than survive thanks to my job, my internship, my other job, and my full-time course load can be very challenging, but perhaps this will be another strategy in my survival guide to help me unload and organize some of the stuff going on in my life right now.  Plus, to bring it back full-circle, it might prove to be a way to reconnect with some of the people in my life I haven't seen in a long time.

I should also reconsider adding to my travel-blog.  I certainly haven't lacked for adventures in the last few years and those can be very therapeutic to reflect back on during times of anxiety (or during times where I am stuck in my apartment obsessively ordering every piece of outdoor equipement I can find on sale online to help cope.  Eyes on the prize.)

Love and miss you all,
Susan

oops.
haven't been updating. too busy, go figure.

here's something of a quick run-down:

1. apartment hunt, apartment find, roommate hunt, roommate find, move move move, driving big trucks and vans and mustangs, move move move, unpack.

2. love my new place/situation. the universe paid out well this time. come visit my porch this summer...i'm up in w. bucktown now and have easy public trans/free parking near by. holla!

3. grad school headaches. hoping to still settle this in the next couple months...if not, i'm so moving out of state. see ya later, headaches. basically, regardless of what happens, it'll be a sweet adventure and i'm approaching the situation with a sense of calm curiosity.

4. running into old friends will soon prove new hangouts.

5. cancun this weekend, california this may, seattle and major US road trip this july.

6. bought a skirt. think i'll try that out soon.

apartment fury

you know, come on.
come ON.

i've really been diggin' my current living situation. you know the one where i moved into an incredibly cheap living situation 7 months ago and said i wasn't going to move again for at least 2 years? that one. 2 years seemed easily attainable. the biggest threat to that happiness was the eventual loss of only 1 of my 3 roommates, and the balance could easily have been restored with the addition of another closely screened awesome roommate.

well, that's all gone to crap.

our landlord put our building up for sale last week. priced to sell.
granted we have no idea when the building will sell or what new conditions the new owner will have in mind (we could get kicked out, or even more likely, our rent could increase substantially), but not knowing is driving me nuts. we're discussing looking for other apartments together to head off this misfortune, but i don't wanna move again and they're likely to be more expensive waaaaah. this sucks, especially with grad school on the horizon and my future financial situation being so incredibly vague.

update: i have to move by april 1st. unbelievable.

sigh......

opera on wednesday. i'm going to get fancy.

camera.

i need one.
my fotp one died in new zealand and interestingly enough, i miss having one (interesting because usually, i can't be bothered to take pictures).

anyone have any recommendations on a good, affordable digital camera?
or any thoughts on purchasing a water proof one? i don't need anything top notch, but i do want something that will last and is easy to use....and maybe waterproof :)

since i've been back

man, it feels like i've been back for ages.
really, only just over 1 month. sigh.

this last month has continued to be as busy and productive as the last couple, however, so i've been quite content.

things of consequence:
1. i submitted all my grad school apps! and my taxes! and my fafsa! and applied for an assistantship! holy cow. not only did i make all my deadlines, but i was early on a few and actually feel satisfied with the essays i wrote. major thanks to those who helped me out with the editing, though. i was so nervous and stressed and you guys were my knights in shining armour:)

2. some quality hangouts with some quality people i don't get to see often enough. there are still some of you on this list i'd like to see though, so let's make that happen.

3. i bought an all-inclusive trip to cancun in april. damitz and i did, actually. we're going to rock those mexican beaches so hard.

4. on the cancun trip note, i'm lining up a couple more trips before the end of the summer. i figure i might as well blow all my tax refund and all my vacation days while i still have the luxury of being able to do so (ie. before grad school and major debt begins). shaping up nicely are:

* seattle/portland for an extended weekend with potlatch and pete
* road trip down to the kennedy space center and the florida keys with my dad and brother
* one more last-ditch trip in august, tbd? (ibiza is just too expensive/impossible to get to
though, sorry simon).

5. i beat uic's gym membership system! now i can workout at a low-low price for the remaining 3 months of cold weather. i'm also doing swim aerobics with my roommate and shoveling lots of snow. gotta stay healthy!

new blog yo!

i moved my new zealand and australia travel posts to a new blog linked here: ishighlytraveled.blogspot.com

now that it's separate it's more special.
also, i finished documenting all of it, yay!!!

epic

i figure i'll piece the trip out in installations with pictures a little at a time over the next month or so, seeing as how the odds of me doing anything else even remotely interesting in the next month or two is very slim.

it was epic.