New Beginning and Long Update

Some of my family, and now some of my friends, have created blogs to help people stay in touch. I've considered starting one, but now I'm actually doing it because it seems like a perfect time. A few days ago, Tim and I moved into our first apartment together! It's a nice apartment, two bedrooms, two baths, vaulted ceilings, in unit washer and dryer, wood burning fireplace (will be nice during those Wisconsin winters when it drops to -30F outside!), and a garage that will be nice for storage. It's in a great location, right behind the west side mall, near REI, a movie theatre, all kinds of shops and restaurants, and target! The place is a mess right now, and once I learn how to upload pictures I will make sure to do so! Once we get settled and Tim figures out a job, we are also going to get a puppy!! Many pictures will follow that one, but that is quite a ways down the road!

So here's what I'm up to! I'm still in Madison, Wisconsin, and overall things are going really well! I graduated last year, and for the past year I've been working in an AIDS Vaccine Research Lab here in Madison. Work is great, although as of recently some things have not been working so it's been frustrating. But that's kind of how science woks; it's a very frustrating field! But aside from that, work is great. I get along really well with everyone, the work is interesting, and it's great experience. I'm preparing to apply to graduate school this fall to attend a PhD program next year (assuming I get accepted somewhere!). My number one choice is, of course, Madison, since it means Tim and I can stay here and we won't have to move and he won't have to find a new job! UW is very competitive for graduate school, so it's not going to be easy, and I'm definitely looking at other schools all around the country. So basically next year is completely up in the air! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

As for other things, life is good. As of 3 days ago, Tim and I finally moved into our first apartment together... FINALLY! Well, I'VE moved in, Tim's lease is not up until the end of August so he's taking his sweet time moving. Hopefully this coming weekend we can really start to organize and make this place look a little more livable! Tim is still working on finding permanent work in the area, but he is freelancing for one paper and might be doing a part time job at another paper, so hopefully one of those will become a more permanent position. In the meantime, I'm the breadwinner of the house, which isn't exactly what my income can support! We'll make it work though. And once Tim does get a job, we are planning on getting a puppy!! I want a dog so badly, and our apartment lets us have a dog up to 30 pounds (perfect!). We're not sure what kind we will be getting since we are planning on going to the animal shelter, but we're thinking a spaniel or a terrier of some sort. I'm so excited! but again, that's a ways off! For now, I have 4 fish that keep me happy. One is a 4-year old guppy (I don't know how he isn't dead yet) a blue gourami, a catfish that I haven't seen more than twice since I bought him a couple months ago (he hates the light) and my newest fish is a red gourami. They are fairly entertaining for fish; who knew fish had personalities?!

And yes, we are finally underway with the wedding planning. We have a date, June 13, 2009, the place is picked out, and we have a photographer and I've found a wedding dress! We will be sending out save-the-dates and invitations and stuff once we get a little more settled (hopefully soon!). There's a lot left to do, but my parents are helping us a lot, even from Connecticut, and Tim's parents are helping us out too. It's a lot to deal with between work, graduate school, taking GREs, planning a wedding, and moving! It's nice to have a few of the big things figured out, and we need to get a few more big things figured out and then it's just the smaller details.

I'm still swimming and biking and running a bit, but mostly just to stay in shape now. I did do one triathlon this summer, in Ohio where my sister lives, and that went well (except for the run... swimming don't run... ever... ever... ever...)! It was an olympic distance, which was a 0.9 mile swim, a 25 mile bike, and a 6 mile run. The weather was great, and I had a lot of fun doing it :o) I might try to do one more event this summer or this fall, but I've yet to decide which one! In the meantime, I'm just swimming for fun, and I bike to work everyday, and I run ever once in a while. I also started playing soccer with some work peeps so that gives me another reason to run! I'm starting to get better too, seeing as I haven't played organized soccer since I was in 5th grade!

Well, that's really about it!! Nothing too exciting, but lots of things to figure out and plan over the next couple of months. Grad school apps are due early December, and then I get to play the "wait-around-and-sweat" game while they take their time making a decision. Should be fun... hopefully I'll have a puppy by then to distract me! For now, that's about all!