Life Updates

Life has been busy so I have not been able to update this in a while, but I have a few minutes so here are somethings that have happened recently.

I found a web design job! It has been a bit stressful getting adjusted but overall I am very happy to have this opportunity and to be able to do this kind of work. I have sort of a long commute but the freeway usually moves pretty smoothly in the direction I have to go. It’s a relatively small start up company, but it seems to be expanding at a rapid pace due to increasing interest in web and search engine marketing, which the company specialize in. Tim is also happy that I can take over paying the rent for a while!

Tim is getting settled into the PhD program in Mathematics here at the University of Utah by having secured an advisor and deciding to specialize in Algebraic Geometry.

Our social life here has become more consistent, which is nice. Twice a week we go out to dinner with friends to get burritos at Chipotle, or Thai food at Chanon Thai Cafe (so good!).  We also hangout with them to watch the shows “Glee” and the “Office.”

New Front Room

Recently Tim and I took some of our tax refund money and bought new bookshelves at Ikea.  We used them to reorganize the front room into little nooks.  The feng shui is much improved now.  We also bought some plants and hung some pictures on the wall.  Here are some pix (sorry the white balance is off and so is the focus, but I’m going to be a bad photography student and not fix them right now because I’m too lazy).

But first I need to showcase how ridiculous Cauchy looks right now.  We took him to the groomers for the first time because he had become pretty scruffy.  His fur was so matted though that she had to just shave it all off so that he can start over for next time.  He is almost unrecognizable right now and looks very awkward.  Poor funny Cauchy.

Junk corner

TV on ugly boxes between dvds and fiction

Tim’s study corner

The reading nook with a pillow for Cauchy

I took off most of my computer stuff and made my desk more of a craft table to inspire the artist in me.

Turtle’s corner with her new plant cover

That dead corn plant in the top corner is not my fault by the way. It was given to Tim by a botanist at the University for it’s seeds, so we need to get to planting them.

Bookcase close-up

We started adding photos on the wall next to the kitchen table and my new desk set-up.

Digital Photography Field Trip

This weekend we went on a trip to Red Butte Gardens for the digital photography class I took.  I am trying to figure out Tim’s camera and it has been pretty fun.  Here are some fun pictures I took.

close up practice

The teacher let me borrow his super zoom lens.

Close up of foothills.

Close up of mountains across the valley.

Some kids modeling for us.

Another model

Tim modeling for us.

The teacher also let me borrow his fish-eye lens. These are my favorite pictures. I think they came out very “Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas.”

An Ode to Cauchy

Tim took some pictures of me with Cauchy that I really like.  We are getting to know him more.  He is showing us his full energy and personality now that he is used to us and over is kennel cough, and we are having so much fun with him!  He has definitely been acting more doggy like than he was in his first week here.  He wakes us up in the morning by jumping up on the bed, walking all over us and trying to lick our faces.  He is super super excited when we get home, jumping at least twice his height and running back and forth between us.  He is even starting to play with his toys.  We love to see him shake to fluff his fur up.  He still has some cat-like behavior, like being fast and agile when threatened, sleeping alot, and finding all soft places to curl up, no matter how unusual.  Today we took him on two long walks and gave him his first bath.  Now he is dog-tired and sleeping between us on our new couch.  He is so sweet, soft, and adorable, and we love him so much!

Monica Visits

My good friend Monica came to visit us in the great state of Utah.  Lucky for her, it has been about the smoggiest I have seen it here, so she couldn’t really enjoy the mountain view too much (It’s just getting worse this week..gross).  Anyways we started the weekend by going shopping at The Gateway Mall downtown (I have missed my shopping buddy indeed).    We made the happy accident of walking into the store with the best deals first, so afterwards we weren’t really inspired to buy anything if it wasn’t under $15.  We also went to see the movie “Marley & Me.”  She had just finished reading the book and wanted to see the movie version.  I thought it was very cute, especially  in light of my new doggy friend!

Sunday we drove over to Park City to check out the Sundance Film Festival scene.  It was interesting to see Park City with it’s snow cover and with the Hollywood/New York fashionable type crowd on it’s streets.  We wandered Main Street for a bit and ate some Pizza.  On our way back Monica and I recognized Lucas Grabeel who plays Ryan Evans in the” High School Musical” movies hanging out on the sidewalk with some people.  Monica and I were originally too shy to go over and ask for a picture, but luckily we had Tim with us, who could care less about what an actor would think, and he asked for us.  So we got a picture with him and then he asked us if we would go to a screening of some shorts for his production company.  So we went to that, which was in a room with a projector and folding chairs (about 100 people maybe).  The shorts were fun to watch, pretty interesting and funny.  So it was nice that we did get to go to a showing that felt very film-festivally (shh that’s totally a word).  Plus we got personally invited by the actor [insert pretentious throat-clearing noise here].

Monday I showed Monica around some of Salt Lake, most of which was closed (East High & the Library).  What was open of course was the Mormon Temple.  Monica got the complete Utah experience when she stopped following me for a second to read a blurb about Adam & Eve, and was immediately approached to by one of their missionaries, who proceeded to aks her a bunch of questions about her beliefs.  Haha.  So I told her next time to never stop when walking around that place or prepare to be proselytized to!

Pictures (many stolen from Monica’s facebook):

 

Tim & me waiting for the shuttle to go up to Main Street.

Monica at the pizza place.

Tim, doing one of his looks, at the pizza place.

Monica and me on Main Street.

Laughing.

One of the theaters playing festival movies.

Our pic with Lucas Grabeel.

Monica playing in the sound garden playground.

My artsy shot of Monica, directed by Tim

Tim with his festival hat, looking like a director.

Dancing in front of fishy sculptures.

Monica meets Cauchy.

Instant love!

Cauchy the Dog

A few months ago, we realized that something was missing from our lives. We quickly determined that we could fill this void with some kind of dog. Eventually Tim concluded that for his birthday he wanted a used dog. Mission: accomplished.

Our doggy was a stray, which means we had to pick a name. Obviously we went with Cauchy, named for the elite mathematician. This has the added benefit that the nickname — pronounced “cosh” — happens to be a useful mathematical function. This dog’s destiny has clearly set a course for nerdiness.

Obviously you now want to see pictures of Cauchy, which Tim was happy to shoot:

Tired after a long walk.

Keeping an eye on the happenings of the livingroom.

I’m sure every dog owner has seen their dog protect their rope like this.

He’s figured out that the toys are his, but he isn’t sure what to do with them.

Cauchy loves hanging out by the desks, especially on the soft rug.

He saw an open lap and took it!

Cauchy is the perfect dog for us. He’s just the right size for the house; he hasn’t barked once, not even when we visited him in the noisy shelter. He’s instantly friendly to everyone he meets, but he’s respectful in how he approaches people. He doesn’t mind relaxing when you’re trying to work, but if he catches you taking a break he’s sure to come over for some attention. When he needs to go outside, he patiently waits by the door, but never jumps up and scratches. When he sees you grab the leash, he sticks his head out quietly so you can put it on without any fuss. When the UPS guy came to deliver some boxes, Cauchy stepped out of the door to greet him, but didn’t run off. Easily among the best-behaved dogs we’ve ever met. And he’s ours!

S (Nooooooo!) W

Here’s some pics from skiing in Utah at the Solitude ski resort and from our trip back to WA.

 

The road to the ski resorts.

 

Tim ninja driving in the snow.

 

Tim's Mom & me ready to ski (yes that's me under there somewhere).

 

Tim & me

 

Here's our backyard in Salt Lake with the lights we put up.

 

 

 

Back in WA & too much snow!

 

 

Car drowning

 

Weve the snowman

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving with some of Tim’s fellow math students at Becky & Mami’s place.  It was different, but traditional in some ways (there was too much food, the turkey took longer to cook than expected).  I made a vegetarian strudel to substitute for the Turkey. Mmm.

Here are some pictures from the card games.  There’s not really any of us because Tim was the one shooting and he was sitting next to me.

 

Mami (math student from Japan) and her boyfriend Tom (visiting from North Carolina)

 

Becky (math student from Alaska)

 

 

(Jah-Yung? -don't know how to spell his name, math student from China)

 

 

My Uno cards

 

Becky -pensive

 

(Cheih-Cheh? -also don't know how to spell his name, math student from Taiwan)

 

Seeta (math student, who will not reveal where he is from) playing Becky's guitar

 

East High “High School Musical 3” Carnival

So I finally got my photo-op. at East High.  They had a carnival on Monday to celebrate the opening of the 3rd movie, and I have to say I think we had way too much fun for college graduates at a high school carnival.

 

Standing in the parking lot paw print

 

Posing with the lockers

 

Brendan trying to slide down the hallway like Troy

 

Brendan at Troy's locker

 

Posing at Gabriella's balcony

 

Sharpay's *fabulous* lockers

 

Some of the students did a dance performance in the auditorium.

 

Brendan being a bad student and using his cell in Ms. Darbis's classroom

 

In shop class

 

Getting their heads in the game.

 

Dancing on the cafeteria tables.

“Nooo, no no no, stick to the status quo”

 

 

Brendan supporting the math club with pin-the-tail on the Wildcat

 

In the stands

 

On the court

 

Posing with the cheerleaders

 

Jumping for the ball with a basketball player.

 

The money shot

 

We couldn't resist the chance to sing "The Start of Something New" in karaoke.

 

So dorky

Mom Visits!

Before she arrived I found this at my door…

2 inch praying mantis on my door -even the bugs here are pious 😉

 

She made it just in time for the first snow of the season.  It didn’t really stick but it sure was cold, especially since our furnace wasn’t working yet.  Thankfully it’s working now!  I did make her walk to the library in the snow though!  We also went to see the U of U campus.  Here are some pictures:

Roses in the snow

 

I tried to get the snowy mountains in the picture

 

After the first day the snow melted and it warmed up pretty quickly.  Today it was actually around 70 degrees.  I don’t think we get in-between seasons here. Winter and summer seem to be the only options.

We took the train downtown to go on a tour of temple square.  Two sweet girls from Korea and Sweden showed us around the grounds and talked about their religion.  More pix..

The Tabernacle with the giant pipe organ

 

Jesus statue in the universe room

 This room was pretty cool, it had a spiral staircase going up to it that was also painted with outer space.  The effect actually reminded me of the Spaceship Earth ride at Epcot center, very different message though.

Mom with Joseph and Hyrum Smith

 

Close-up of Joseph Smith

The temple

More temple

 

Garden by the temple

 

Brigham Young pioneer statue

 

I took Mom over to Liberty Park.  It’s an enormous city park that’s pretty close to us.

 

 

Geese!

 

Lots of geese

 

Inside the gazebo

 

 

I also had to take her over to Salt Lake City East High School, because like me she is totally in love with the High School Musical movies and that is where they filmed most of them.

It didn’t quite look that peppy, especially since it was closed that day.

 

Salt Lake City East High

 

Wildcat paw

 

I still plan to sneak inside one of these days to get a picture of me dancing in the cafeteria!

 

Not in the pictures: we also did a lot of shopping at Smith’s, Sears, the Gateway Mall, and Trolley Square.  She got me lots of new appliances.  Thank you Mommy!  Now I don’t feel quite as destitute!

Come back and visit me again soon, and bring everyone else with you!