I am in love...

...with my niece, Ashlan. Sorry, G. Here are some pics from her first Christmas (like she is going to remember it...):

NOVEMBER 20

November 20. The day I got my new wheels and BECAME AN AUNT (loved all the text messages I got from my sister while she was in labor...). And the day I attended my first Texas A&M football game.

And it was a fantastic game! Opponent: Nebraska. Score: 9 (A&M)-6 (Nebraska). All points came from field goals.

But let us talk about Kyle Field. It was a cultural experience. I bleed purple and gold and love Husky football, but Aggie fans are something else (all the traditions are amazing and the sense of community here, even though it is a large school, is hard to match) and subsequently I am honored to work here. I was in awe.

None of us are as strong as all of us.

This old lady was having a fantastic time cheering on her Fightin' Texas Aggies!

Attendance (a sea of maroon) as well as ultimately the final score.

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band doing their thing. It was incredible to watch. No one ran into each other!

Students stand the whole game cheering on their team. Good for them, but no thanks. My ass likes to sit.

More of Kyle Field and the 12th Man.

Wheels!

I am going to be one of those people... Got a car on Saturday! New whips! Quite fancy for simple little me (leather, fast, fancy technology...), but it is such a nice car, in new condition, and the right price...I could not resist. I feel like a fancy schmancy big girl.

Austin

G and I went to Austin this weekend to shop for a car. We did not find a car (all of Austin's lots are closed on Sundays...now we know...). But Austin blows my mind. Downtown at night is bananas - lots of people, bars, loud music... Never seen anything like it except spring break in Mexico or my days in Prague. Looking forward to exploring Austin more in the future. *wink*

Need a George Foreman Grill?

Because we have five of them in this house. None of them are being used. But no cover for a 10" pan. Boys.

First observations of CS

A few College Station observations:

- Land of good grub: BBQ, Mexican, chili, and CHICKEN STRIPS!

- Girls in Nike running shorts - I swear they must be the official bottoms of Aggie female students!

- Trucks - feels like home...

- Cowboy boots - again, feels like home...

- It is flat, flat, flat

That is it for now. While it is only day five for me in Texas, I am surprisingly loving it!

Drive to TX

My 1300+ mile drive (a little over 21 hours) by myself in a U-Haul truck with only one day of planning went perfectly! Could not have worked out any better. I found out I was trucking it the day before... Why? My ship and fly plan imploded on Friday (*Curses U-Box*). While long, I enjoyed driving through more of our beautiful country (I can now add WV, KY, TN, AR and TX to the list of states I have been to). I saw a stunning sunset and sunrise in Arkansas (stayed the night there). I loved all the truck company on the road (I used them to figure out how fast to drive - how often do you see truckers getting pulled over?). I only had one problem on the entire trip - I got lost in the very last mile trying to find the house in College Station. Literally. Four pages of directions from Google Maps (no GPS for me) and I screw me up at the very end... But all in all, it was a problem-free (only time I had to use the wipers was to clean off bug guts) journey to my new home. Thank goodness!

Jade's Review of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is a surprisingly awesome town. And cheap. I like cheap. I hear it is friendly, but I found at times it is not (people are not good at saying hello). There are lots of great views of Downtown. That surprised me. I thought the city would be a bit fugly. And there are lots of great neighborhoods. My favs: Strip District, Shadyside and Squirrel Hill.

Pittsburgh is famous for its blue collar food, especially sandwiches from Primanti Brothers. But I do not like Primanti Brothers. I want my food separated (sandwich separate from slaw which is separate from the fries...not all on the same sandwich which is what you get at Primanti Brothers). But it is also the land of the pierogi and I love pierogi. Cannot get enough of them...

Pittsburgh is also famous for being a sports town. Steelers and Penguins reign...but not the Pirates. While everyone wore Black and Gold on games day, I never did. I never converted. Hockey was fun to watch, but I am not a Steelers fan. Never ever. While I am not a massive football fan, I think the Seahawks (they have been my team since I was a wee one) were robbed of the Super Bowl against the Steelers a few years ago. Say what you want, Steeler Nation. Go Hawks! 

PIT is a great airport since it is never busy (short lines), but a horrible airport for being delayed (winter = snow and ice, summer = storms) and thus I frequently had to run to make connections in other cities (since Pittsburgh had few direct flights to the places I was traveling), particularly Detroit and its massive concourses.

In sum, I wish I could have explored Pittsburgh and its surrounding area more, but my job limited my ability to. But it is a great city with lots to do, great quality of life (except for the weather every now and then), and good job and education options (model for other cities). But a new opportunity has presented itself elsewhere and thus to Texas I go. Farewell, Pittsburgh!

Moving!

It is official (and I feel the 'need to knows' know): I am moving! Where? TEXAS! When? Next month! Why? To be closer to G and work at Texas A&M (no more res life)! Fan-freaking-tastic! I will miss my student staff and pierogies, but will not miss being on call... Bring on a new adventure!

Behind nearly every entitled student...

...is an even more entitled parent.

I will just say I had a horrible, horrible phone call today with a parent. Probably a contender for my worst call ever (this is bad considering I get calls from parents rather regularly)...and it probably would be up there for most people.

Comments like (and these are the ones I can write...):

"I pay a lot of money to send my child there!"

"I do not care what else you have to do, I do not care about any of the other kids there, this is an emergency!"

"It is YOUR problem! Or I will do something about you there. YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

I could go on and on and on...

Days like today (and they are becoming more and more common) make me want to pack up and move to an island and become a beach bum.

Fail

I fail at staying up on blogging...

Not much has happened. August is over. Thank goodness! I went home to Washington for a much needed visit home during Labor Day Weekend. The Anderson clan was together for the first time in over a year - Prego Arika and Bryan were up from San Diego, Skyler was there from Silverdale, and of course Mom, Dad, and the pups. We ate lots of great food (LOVE Mom-made meals!). Did a day trip to Anacortes to help Dad and barbecue at Deception Pass (AMAZING sunset). Made a pilgrimage to Value Village. Went on a couple good runs (Washington has the best running weather in the summer). Picked some blackberries (my berry expertise came back to me quickly). Saw the rest of the family and a couple friends. I do miss home a lot. I need to make it back more often. Just tough with this job.

Speaking of job, we are so busy. Will I ever get to have a normal day? It just keeps coming. I just keep telling myself that God does not throw me things I cannot handle.

Not much else going on. Just trying to stay on top of life and figuring out the next chapter. 

Out of retirement

I have been thinking about blogging it up again in recent weeks. I stopped when I returned from the Middle East because I did not think I had anything to write about...but maybe I do. I can write about work, I can write about the random thoughts I have, I can write about trips I go on (or want to go on), I can write about recipes, I can write about all the stupid shit I discover on the web, I can write about the trashtastic brain candy reality shows I watch, I can write financial advice (I have been told I am like a mini Suze Orman)... So here we go again!

So what have I been up to this past year? In a nutshell:

- Working at the University of Pittsburgh in residence life (some days are better than others...)

- Still with G despite the distance (in the past year he has been in Qatar, Iraq, and Bahrain, and will be moving to Texas soon)

- Traveling a lot less (*%@$!), but I have been able to go to Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Florida, Chicago, home (Washington), Maine, Virginia, and South Carolina

- Running

- Trying to figure out what I want in life (a never ending struggle...)

- Baking

- Going carless

And here are couple photos from the past year:

Drinking lemon mints in Oman

Pitt at Sunset

Holland Staff

Riding one of Pittsburgh's inclines with Dad

Maine Lobstah!