In Los Angeles

We made it safely to Los Angeles, and now it is time to relax and hang out with Mike's family. After two busy and stressful weeks, an abundance of free time where we have nothing to work on feels wonderful and a little strange. I feel like I am living someone else's life right now. And the concept of arriving in Fairbanks in 9 days, where I'm going to be teaching and studying, also seems like someone else's happy life that I am dreaming about living.

Some pics from our trip so far:


The napkin reads, "More legroom than any other U.S. Airline - United Economy Plus".
Somehow, Mike and I managed to sit on the only row of seats that has substantially less leg room than any other airline.



Murals on the windows of the harp shop that we visited to buy a replacement string for Mike's mom.


Driving into Burbank. The mountains are beautiful and very different from the short, conifer-filled hills in Northern Alabama.

Fruit!! Suddenly, I'm surrounded by fresh fruit. The backyard has so many fruit trees and my first ever visit to Whole Foods was wonderful.

The Crunch

We're leaving Alabama tomorrow to fly to California.

The last two weeks have been a non-stop blur of packing things for storage and deciding what to bring with us. In an hour, Mike and I are going to meet my mom for dinner and to deliver my red-eared slider to his new home in Mom's kindergarten classroom. And since none of us will probably sleep tonight, Dad's coming over to join in an all-night movie fest.

Tomorrow I'll leave Brawley, my cat, at Dad's house and we'll drive down to Birmingham.

I'm looking forward to the first leg of our trip in California. I've always wanted to visit, and I'm really excited to meet Mike's parents.

So, ten days and then we'll be in Fairbanks. Woot!


If you see two bicycle-riding geeks looking super happy to be out of the hot Alabama sun - that's probably us.

Yard Sale!

The yard sale description Mike posted online:

Yard sale at my place tomorrow: Saturday, August 4th, starting at first daylight (we'll be awake all night getting it together). Come see what horrors two geeks can amass and eventually sell (in this yard sale, of course) in preparation for a trip to a far-away land of bears and snowmobiles. We will have a crap-ton of damn fine-looking clothing for sale (we have good taste, but precious little suitcase space), many, many honestly geeky books (including subversive/ political/ revolutionary/science-fictionary insanity, and a few boring(i.e. "good") books as well), toys (including a rocket!), games, furniture(bookcases, desk, shelves) electronics, antique cameras, sporting goods, picture frames, a cute little tv/vcr, a musical instrument or two, cages for rabbits/ ferrets/ chinchillas/ rats, some good shoes, a well-loved motor scooter, some pretty things, and if there's any left when you get here, free coffee! Shockingly low prices for everything, I promise.

We had around 5 people show up, and made $35. It was scorching hot at 9:00 am, so I'm not surprised most people decided to forego stopping at our yard sale. Still, it was worthwhile to separate what we are going to give away/ donate from what we are going to store or take with us.

Cabins vs. Dorms - Take Two

Around the beginning of June I received a letter from UAF Residence Life saying that Mike and I were on the waiting list for a dorm. At the end of June I emailed Res Life to check on the status of the dorm, and they said they would know whether we would have a dorm room around mid-July. Last week I emailed Res Life again to check on the status. Right now, Mike and I are 3rd on the wait list for a dorm room. The only openings for a co-habitating couple are 2 bedroom dorms in Hess Village for $965/ month.

So - a cabin it is!

We're arriving very early in the morning on Sunday, August 26th. Hopefully we'll be able to look at some cabins that day. I'm a bit worried there might be a pre-term rush for cabins that are close to the UAF campus. Starting August 27, I will be in Teaching Assistant training from 9-4 everyday. I'm really looking forward to the training, but I am worried about Mike going cabin hunting by himself. We went through a similar situation a year ago in Birmingham, and it was very stressful even with the aid of his motor scooter.

Right now our plan is to pick up the Daily News-Miner and two bicycles and see where they take us.

Present and past Fairbanks insiders, if you have any advice or secrets on securing a good cabin near the UAF campus please share them with me. I would love any help!