Seattle

I can finally share some big news on the blog....

We're moving to Seattle for 6 months!

 

Part of the LGO program is a 6 month internship at one of the LGO Partner Companies. There are several partner companies including some places you may have head of like Nike, Amazon, Caterpillar, Boeing, Zara, Novartis, and a bunch more. Students can choose if they want to interview for what is called "off-cycle" internships which go from February-August, or "on-cycle" which goes from June-December. Chuck chose to interview for a couple of "off-cycle" internships because he was very interested in the projects. He interviewed and then had to rank the projects in order of his favorite to least favorite. Then the companies rank the candidates and they generate a match.

Chuck will be working on a project for Amazon at their headquarters in Seattle!

We have known for a little while but I couldn't post anything until I broke the news to my boss at work. We will move to Seattle in early February and come back to Boston at the end of August for Chuck to finish up his final two semesters at MIT!

This is both extremely exciting and extremely stressful news. I am SO excited to experience West Coast living for the first time but also stressed about moving AGAIN- and this time even FARTHER across the country- leaving my job at MIT, finding a job in Seattle, finding a new job once we're back in Boston, and about a million other things.  And I have never been to Seattle before so the thought of moving to a city I've never even visited kind of scares me. But only a little.

On top of all the excitement and stress, Chuck and I are also sad to be leaving all of the LGOs. We will be away while most of them are still in Boston taking classes for the Spring Semester. Then when we get back to Boston in the Fall, they will be gone on internship. So we go almost a year without seeing most of the LGOs we've become good friends with! Sad!  The good news is two other LGOs are going to Seattle for their off-cycle internships, and a few more will be starting there in June, so we won't be completely alone out there.

Here are the only things I knew about Seattle before doing any research:
- Birthplace of Starbucks

 

- "Home" of Meredith, McDreamy and the rest of the Grey's Anatomy characters.

 

- Close to Canada

- Hometown of T-Will (who you may remember from THIS previous blogpost)

- It's rainy. Although I read that Boston has a higher annual precipitation average than Seattle.

I knew my rain boots were going to get lots of good use when I bought them back in September!

That's about it.

I'm sure I'll know much more soon. One thing I do know for sure is we have a lot to do before February!

So, you know what's coming next... My attempt to make everyone come visit us all the time:
Start planning your Spring Break and Summer Break vacations for the West Coast, friends! I know all of you have just been waiting for a reason to visit Seattle, right!? We'll make sure we pack our air mattress just for all of you. :)

Full of Thanks

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Chuckie and I had a jam packed weekend of food, friends, food, family, and more food.

On Thanksgiving Eve, we went over to Faneuil Hall to check out the Christmas decorations and had dinner at the Bell in Hand. It was a fun way to kick off our long holiday weekend.

After dinner we made a stop at Toscanini's for some ice cream and then went home to skype our game night friends who were having a Thanksgiving Eve game night. Here is a picture of them skyping us. 

Hi, friends!

 Thursday morning we woke up early and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and started working on making the stuffing.  I made a HUGE mess of our kitchen but both of the stuffings turned out great- though one could have used a little more chicken broth. But I thought it was a good first attempt.

Thursday afternoon, we went to Kate and Ryan's where we were meeting friends for Thanksgiving dinner. When we got there, Kate told us Ryan had just left to go to the ER after cutting his finger while peeling potatoes. He was back after a couple of hours and didn't have to get any stitches, so it turned out ok and added some excitement to our day.

Ana was brave and volunteered to cook the turkey for everyone! She even made a turkey itinerary! Here she is checking the temperature to see if he was done.  

 The turkey was delicious!

 Only about half of the food we had out.

 Our hosts, Kate and Ryan!

Ryan gave a great toast at dinner and brought up how we've only known each other for a very short time but here we are, celebrating Thanksgiving together. This is one of the really special things about the LGO program. You make instant friends, and as my aunt said this weekend, when you're living in a city without family, your friends become your family. :)

After we all digested our food and watched some football, we played some games. 

Adam just casually whistling, trying to get his team to guess a song. I love that he's still holding his coffee mug.

On Friday we rented a car and left early in the morning to drive to Agawam, MA to see my aunt and uncle. Agawam is just outside of Springfield, MA. We spent the day lounging around, watching football and basketball, and eating. It was exactly what we wanted to do.

Midway through the day, I got a call from my cousin Aaron AKA Brother I Never Had telling me that he and his girlfriend were engaged! He was planning to announce it to our whole family that afternoon during Thanksgiving dinner and wanted to tell me since I wasn't going to be there. I was soooooo excited but also sad I couldn't be home to celebrate with them in person. Aaron and I are only a few months apart in age and grew up very close. I really felt like one of my siblings was telling me they were engaged!

Aaron and Elizabeth have been together pretty much forever, so she is already a part of our family but now will be OFFICIALLY! I'm so happy for them!

Aren't they cute!?!?!?

On Saturday, we woke up early and drove to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. It was awesome. I now know a ton of history of basketball and got to see a lot of jerseys, shoes and other artifacts from Hall of Famers.

Chuckie got to meet the cardboard version of his childhood idol.

 At the end of the museum they have a court with a lot of baskets where you can shoot hoops for as long as you want. They also have a special area for dunking practice. They had a 6 foot, 7 foot, 8 foot and 9 foot goal. Here I am dunking on a 7 foot goal.

Obviously jumping is not one of my strengths. I'm about 3 inches off the ground.

Chuck on the other hand... he's got hops.

After that it was back to my aunt and uncle's to watch more football and basketball until we left to make it home in time for the UofL vs. Duke basketball game. We had such a relaxing time in Agawam and it was great to visit with my aunt, uncle and cousin! It was also nice to be in a HOME. Our apartment is nice but it just doesn't feel like a home. It feels like an apartment.

Sunday, Chuckie did homework. I had plans to go to the mall, grocery and Walgreens, but instead I watched the Broncos game, three Christmas movies and made dinner. I think that was a good decision.

We missed our families back in Kentucky this weekend a ton but still had a great time in Massachusetts and really have SO much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving with Friends

Due to extremely pricey airline tickets and only 4 days off from school and work, we had to make the decision to stay in/around Boston for Thanksgiving this year.

We toyed with several ideas for how to spend our first married Thanksgiving, but after realizing that (my favorite idea) going to the Macy's Parade in New York would probably be just as expensive as the trip to Louisville, we decided just to stay put. Lucky for us, several of our LGO friends were in a similar situation and were also planning to stay around for the holiday.

So we are spending the holiday this year with friends. I am picturing tomorrow will be kind of like this:

Our friends Kate (SO) and Ryan (LGO) graciously offered to be the hosts for our Thanksgiving dinner and it was decided we would do it potluck style- everyone bring a dish.

I signed up to take stuffing and pumpkin bread- two things I am pretty positive I can make without screwing up!

Remember when Rachel put beef in the Thanksgiving dessert she made after mixing up two recipes? That's totally something I would do.

We are really bummed to be away from our families but excited that many of our friends are here to celebrate with. This Thanksgiving will definitely be different for us. Good, but different.

 

I'm planning to wear my stretchy Thanksgiving pants, pretend to care about football so I don't have to help in the kitchen, and hoping for a guest appearance by Brad Pitt. (All just Friends references, fyi. I promise I'll help in the kitchen!)

And hopefully THIS won't happen to anyone at our Thanksgiving:

  

But I'll be sure to let you know if it does!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

(One of my favorite scenes from Friends... ever.)

Medical Rollercoaster

 

For the past month and a half, I have been on a medical roller coaster. In and out of the doctor's office and blood lab so many times I am now a familiar face around MIT Medical. Before anyone gets worried and skips to the end of this post to see if I'm dying, I will tell you that I am fine and in the end I was diagnosed with STRESS.   I don't want sympathy from anyone and I'm not trying to make something small into a big deal by writing a blog post about it. I’m simply writing about this because this blog is supposed to serve 2 purposes: 1) To keep our family and friends from home up to date on what’s going on with us in Boston and 2) To serve as a record of our lives here on this adventure so one day when we’re old we can look back and remember everything we experienced during these 2 crazy years of LGO. 

Back in October I made an appointment for myself to have a physical and have blood taken. I had not been feeling like myself for a while and thought maybe it was the stress of moving, the wedding, etc. But once all of those things were over and I still felt crappy, I thought maybe it was something more than that. So I made an appointment.

When my blood results came back, I was not too surprised to find out that something came back abnormal. The doctor thought I might be developing hypothyroidism, due to high TSH levels. At the time I did not know what TSH was or what hypothyroidism was,  but I knew that the thyroid is not something you want to mess with. After a lot of googling I found out a lot about hypothyroidism and saw that I had a lot of the symptoms and that the only treatment is medication FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. I was very unhappy but tried to put it in perspective. Big deal, so I have to take a pill every day. I should be thankful they didn’t find something much worse in my blood results. As much as I hated the idea of being medicated forever, I knew it wasn't THAT bad. So for the next month I mentally prepared for the hypothyroidism diagnosis.

Fast forward to November 1. My doctor had me come in again to check my levels after a month to see if they were better or worse before jumping too quickly into diagnosing me. More blood sucking occurred and then I was scheduled to go back in exactly a week later to discuss the results with my doctor. When I went to meet with him he had great news! My TSH levels were back to normal and I did NOT in fact have hypothyroidism! Apparently high TSH levels can also be caused by stress. However, this time around, something else came up in the results as a cause for concern- high cortisol levels. 

My doctor explained to me, this can be caused by one of four things- high stress (imagine that), the time of day your blood was taken (as levels change throughout the day), the kidney creating too much cortisol on it's own, OR maybe a TUMOR in the pituitary gland in the brain. WTF?!!! 

So the next day I was back in the blood lab having blood taken for the third time. The lady at the front counter in the lab recognized me. PEOPLE. There are a lot of places I would not want to be recognized due to frequent visits, and the blood lab is definitely one of them.

Three days later, my doctor messages me and says my cortisol levels were still high, so he wants me to (I bet you can't guess) come in for YET ANOTHER blood test after taking some kind of steroid and then meet with an endocrinologist. Again, WTF!!?!? Against my will, I obliged. By this 4th test, the blood lab ladies and I are basically BFFs. The day before I went in for the test, I messaged my doctor and reminded him that my life has been kind of stressful lately- and could he not just assume that these levels were all high from stress? In the past 6 months I've moved to a new city, got married, moved into 2 different apartments, started a new job and have a lot of stress still coming up in the near future. He messaged back that he understood but that this steroid test would tell us if it was just stress or something more serious.

This morning, I had the following message from my doctor in my patient online inbox:

"11/19/2012 8:41 AM

Your response to the dexamethasone suppression study showed entirely normal physiology. The a.m. cortisol was low and the ACTH was low as well. We need not pursue this any further. The elevated cortisol from the prior studies is probably a result of physiological and or psychological stressors as discussed."

Soooo basically I just need to chill out and take more dance classes and bubble baths. The end.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Basketball Season

Kentucky is known around the world for a few big things. Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Kentucky Derby. Bourbon. And last but CERTAINLY not least, basketball- specifically college basketball.

Today marks the start of the college basketball season. In case you didn't know, this year, the pre-season basketball polls have Louisville ranked #2 and Kentucky (the reigning national champs) ranked #3, with the #1 team being IU-which is just north of Louisville in good ole Indiana. To say that people in Kentucky are obsessed with college basketball would be a HUGE understatement.

As most of you know, Chuckie and I attended the University of Kentucky, but as born and raised Louisville fans, never switched our allegiance from UofL to UK.  You. just. don't. do. that.

The Cardinals are predicted to go very far in the tournament this year and this is 1) very exciting because who doesn't want their team to have a shot at the National Championship? and 2) kinda sad because we are not in Louisville to be in on all of the "hype" around the team this year. And we can't go to any games. And most of the games will not be shown on National TV so we will have to watch on our laptops or listen on the radio. Womp womp.

Every year since I was in high school, I've picked a favorite on the UofL basketball team. The rule is they have to stay my favorite for as long as they are on the team. I cheer for the team as a whole but for them especially. Also, I always call them by their first name, 'cause you know, we're close like that.

In the early 2000s, my favorite was Luke Whitehead. I liked him because whenever he hit a 3 the crowd all yelled "LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKE."

 

After Luke left, my favorite was Larry O'Bannon. Because of his amazing skills in the tournament in 2005 when we went to the Final Four, he is now a favorite of many Cards fans, but I loved him long before everyone else. He was a hometown hero, was very academically smart, and 17 year old me thought he was pretty cute too. (Chuck knows, it's ok.)

<3

 When Larry left, I was depressed and not excited about picking a new favorite. But then... T-Will happened. He was my favorite from the first time I saw him play as a freshman at an exhibition game. He was SO incredibly athletic and had a huge personality. He also became a big favorite amongst Cards fans.

After this dunk he probably ran up and put his face in the camera and proclaimed that he was the best basketball player ever created.  Because I'm pretty sure he believes that.

  In 2006, Louisville beat West Virginia in a football game- we were ranked 5th in the nation and they were ranked 3rd. Some people say this is still the biggest victory in Louisville football history. Chuck and I were lucky to be in the crowd at that game and rushed the field with everyone else after we won. While on the field, I spotted T-Will and some of our other basketball players dancing and celebrating. Without thinking, I ran straight to T-Will and just HUGGED HIM. He just kind hugged me back and then I told him he was my favorite and then had Chuck take a picture of us. This was back when cell phones first had cameras and so the picture was horribly pixelated and is now lost on some old phone of mine. But it happened. Chuck witnessed it (and told me I was crazy.)

After T-Will there was Rakeem Buckles, who didn't do much and now isn't even on the team anymore.

I think I only picked him because he's #4 and 4 is my favorite number.

  So now.... after much deliberation and input from my adviser (Chuck), I have chosen my new team favorite. I now introduce to you....



Montrez Harrell! #24.

We'll see how he works out as my new favorite. And we'll see how the Cards live up to their #2 ranking! Let the college basketball season begin!!!!!!

Sister Reunion

Recently, my sisters came to visit for a few days! Neither of them had ever been to Boston before, so it was very exciting to show them around the city and see them experience everything for the first time. We also adopted a 4th sister for the weekend, Ines- my little sister's best friend who happens to also live in Boston because she is in school here. The 4 of us and Chuck did SO MUCH STUFF. We had a lot of fun as a family of 5.  :)  I can't even tell you everything we did because we did so much. So here are just some of the highlights of the visit.

- Airport Surprise! Sami (little sister) and Ines have not seen each other since the summer of 2011, so Ines and I planned for her to come with us to the airport to surprise Sami when she got off the plane. Sami thought she wasn't seeing Ines until later on Saturday, so she was extremely excited to see her pop out from behind a pole at the airport after they arrived. I love surprises.

This is not at the airport obviously, but I thought Sami might hurt me if I posted any pictures of her at the airport in her glasses after waking up at 4 o'clock that morning. :)

- Freedom Trail. Chuck and I went on our 3rd Freedom Trail tour. The girls loved it- and they learned a lot about Paul Revere! They loved our tour guide the most, especially when we were told to leave the Grannary Burying Grounds by security because it was closing and our guide said "We're not going to listen because I want you all to see Paul Revere's headstone, so just follow me this way and PLAY IT COOL."

Husband and Sister on the Freedom Trail.

In front of The Old State House. It was COLD outside.

Boston Common.

- The North End. You cannot come to Boston and NOT visit the North End, so obviously we took the girls there. We ate dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and then waited in line for a cannoli at Mike's Pastry.

It's very rare that a Mike's Pastry box stays closed all the way home on the train, but we managed to do it.

- Apples to Apples. The sisters got to meet our friends Ana and Jose when they came over to our apartment and played Apples to Apples with us. It was a lot of fun and at one point Chuck played the red card "Toes" on the green card "Elitist" and laughed harder (at himself) than I've ever seen him laugh in our 10 years together. He actually cried from laughing so hard. It was hilarious. I think I'm finally starting to rub off on him. :)

- HBS.  Our Grandpa attended Harvard Business School back in the 30s or early 40s (can't remember) so we walked around the campus and tried to imagine what it was like when he went there.

In front of Baker Library. Grandpa's old dorm is to our right.

- Cupcakes. Yum.

Chocolate & Orange, Mocha (or was it Coffee?), Chocolate, and Pumpkin with cream cheese frosting.

- Life List. Laura has a "Life List" on her blog HERE of things she would like to do in her lifetime. Before they came into town, I was reading her life list to see if I could help her cross anything off while she was here and there happened to be two things! While here, she was able to go to Fenway Park AND experience her first aquarium! I HELP MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE! I didn't get to join the girls at the Aquarium because I had to work, but they said they had fun.

Just pettin' a stingray.

- Toscanini's. The best ice cream in the world that happens to be located a mere 3-4 minute walk from our apartment. Seriously- the New York Times called it the best ice cream in the world in a review once. We went there twice during their visit.

- Agawam. We got a chance to drive out to Agawam, MA for a couple of hours to eat lunch with our Aunt Betty and cousin Barby. We got to see our uncle for just a few minutes. It was great to spend some time with family and we had more delicious cupcakes while there too. :)

To sum up the visit- we ate, and then we walked. Then we ate. Then we walked some more.

Saturday: approx 1.4 miles walked.

Sunday: approx 2.1 before lunch, approx 2.7 after lunch.

The night before they left, my sisters were complaining of jet lag, which was extremely funny because they never left Eastern time zone. I think they were just tired from all the walking I forced them to do.

Chuck and I tried really hard to convince them to move into an apartment in our building instead of going back to Kentucky but they didn't listen. Once again, we've failed to convince our visitors to move here. Our next attempt will be in 3 weeks when my best friend Lauren comes to town!