We Bought a House

Last week we celebrated our 4 year anniversary. In 4 years of marriage we've lived in: 3 cities, 5 apartments, Chuck's sister's basement (for a summer when we moved back from Boston) and now, at last, A HOUSE. We close on it TOMORROW and move in this Saturday!

 

We have been casually looking at houses on Zillow for probably a year to get an idea of what we like and don't like so when we went out with a realtor to actually look a couple months ago, we knew exactly what we were looking for. Funny enough, the house we bought is not really what we were looking for. But we walked in and fell in love with it and think it's the perfect house for us where we are in our life right now. It's a ranch. It's a new build. It has a finished, walk-out basement. The kitchen is the definition of the Heart Eyes Emoji. The yard is small. There are built in bookshelves. We CAN. NOT. WAIT. to move in and be homeowners for the first time!

Like I mentioned, we have lived in 5 apartments in our 4 years of marriage. Two in Boston, two in Seattle, and one in Louisville. As we leave apartment life behind, maybe (hopefully?) forever, I thought it would be fun to look back on the apartments we've lived in and some of the ugliness and prettiness that sums up apartment living.

Our first apartment was in Eastgate, a students only apartment building on MIT's campus. We really wanted to live in Eastgate for our entire time in Boston, but the building is in such high demand we didn't win the apartment lottery and only got to live there for our first summer as we were subletting from someone. You might look at Eastgate in this previous post and wonder why we wanted to live there so badly with the 550 square feet, scary hallways, broken ovens and cockroaches. Ask me sometime in person and I'll tell you the difference in rent at Eastgate vs the rest of Boston and you'll understand. Also, the views of the Charles River and Boston were pretty unbeatable and Chuck's walk to class took approximately 30 seconds.

Our fancy AC unit in Eastgate

After one summer at Eastgate, we moved to our "Married apartment" in Central Square. We loved that apartment. It had the fun speaker system to talk to people at the front door that Chuck would sing into and entertain passerbyers with, a nice kitchen, a parking spot in the garage underneath the building, and some of our friends upstairs and in the buildings next to us.  We also had a lady next door who I liked to make up stories about to entertain Chuck with pretty often, including the one time I tried to convince him she had been killed by her creepy cat because a pair of her snow boots sat outside her door untouched for 3 weeks straight.

Small but cute!

In our short 6 month stay in Seattle, we lived in 2 different fully furnished apartments. The first one we lived in we rented site-unseen. Online it all looked great. In person, while clean and cute, it smelled basement-y, had lumpy floors, had plumbing issues, and no cell service on account of we were in the basement of a house. Also the lady in the conjoined apartment smoked outside her door aka outside our door and the smoke crept into our apartment. Fun times.

We had to sit in that exact spot on the counter to get cell reception.

So after about a month, we moved to a different fully furnished apartment in a different part of the city where we could walk to work and downtown easily, and most importantly, could talk on our cell phones without having to sit on the kitchen counter. That was an OK apartment. The best things about it were the location and view of the mountains from our living room and kitchen. The worst things about it were the ants we couldn't get rid of and the dogs next door that barked at every sound they heard all day and night. Also we had no AC and with all those windows it got a little toasty in there during the summer.

Mountains

When we moved to Louisville, we chose to live at the Meridian Apartments which were brand new at the time. I've talked all about this apartment before and how wonderful it is. We have granite countertops! The carpet is super soft! Our closets are huge! This apartment has been amazing and I really think we will miss living here but we are also ready for a change of scenery. The past two years have had their ups and downs as you know, and unfortunately now this apartment is associated with those down times. We're hoping to pack up all our belongings and leave any bad juju behind!

My favorite pic of our Meridian Apartment. So homey!

All of our apartments have had their pros and cons and while it wasn't always enjoyable sharing a wall with strangers or dealing with ants/cockroaches/dogs/cats, all of these apartments have been special to us in their own unique ways. We are so excited to move and can't wait to see what adventures are ahead for us in our new HOUSE!

 

Job News!

The past few months for Chuck (and all of the other LGOs) have been full of interviews, phone calls, site visits, meetings and decisions. This is the time of year when (most) everyone decides where they will go and what they will do after graduation. It's a very stressful time, for the LGOs and their SOs.

After several phone calls and interviews with different companies, Chuck formally accepted an offer to be an Operations Manager at:

*drum roll please*

You know.... that company that recently came out with news that they're working on drones as a delivery option in the future? That company where you and probably everyone you know bought most their Christmas gifts? Yeah, you may have heard of them. Oh and before you ask, no he doesn't get free Prime and no, he doesn't get a discount on purchases. I wish.

Chuck is really excited about the position he's accepted. Before LGO, he hardly ever sat at his desk at GE, as he was out traveling to suppliers and out on the factory floor. He loved that part of his job and was looking for something similar after LGO but also for something that would give him the ability to lead a group of people. This job at Amazon will give him both of those things! Congratulations, Chuckie!!!!

And that's not all of the exciting news.

The job with Amazon is in Louisville, KY!!!!! Technically, the job is at the Fulfillment Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana but, we'll be living in Louisville.

So, it's official! Chuck will graduate on June 6th and a few days later, we will be Louisville residents once again. 

This LGO experience has been more amazing than words can even describe (I'll save my sappy, lovefest posts for the program, the people and Boston for a later date...), and we've loved this experience, all the traveling we've done and living in two totally different cities. However, the longer we're away from Louisville, more specifically-the PEOPLE who are IN Louisville, the more we want to go back. In addition to our family and friends, and maybe even a bigger reason we want to go back? We really miss Havana Rumba.

Kidding of course... or am I?

Soon, we fly home for Christmas break for two weeks and when we get back, we have exactly 5 months to soak up as much time with our Boston friends as we can, do all the things in the city we've had on our list but haven't crossed off yet, and prepare to move AGAIN.

The post office is really going to freak out when I submit yet another forward address form. Who changes addresses 6 times and lives in 3 cities in 2 years?! I bet the CIA will be investigating us soon.

CIA, if you're reading this: I promise we are NOT terrorists. Just crazy.

Back in Boston

After 15 days of traveling, we made it back to Boston late Saturday night. Returning to our same apartment really made it feel like we were finally home. (Especially since we were essentially homeless for 15 days.) I've never loved this apartment so much.

We've already been out to dinner and bars with friends and have a packed schedule already for the next 2 weeks ahead. It's good to be back. :)

Besides our reunion with friends, we're also enjoying our reunion with our own couch, TV, coffeemaker, crazies of Central Square, and familiar streets. It's been an adjustment to stop adding 3 hours to the time when thinking about calling or texting my family but I think I'll adjust quickly.

I have so many pictures and stories to share from our travels but that will take several posts, so I thought I'd just give a little teaser today with a summary of our trip.

By the Numbers:
15: days traveled
18: states visited
3720: miles driven (and yes, Chuckie and I still like each other even after that much time in the car together.)
too many: fast food stops
4: historical monuments visited
0: buffalo seen   :(
27: pictures I posted on Instagram while traveling
5: pictures Chuckie posted on Instagram while traveling

Favorites:
State (scenery): Montana
Sign: Tie between the sign for "Crazy Woman Creek" in Wyoming and the sign for "Biscuit World" in West Virginia
Side trip: The Badlands
Meal: Jeff Ruby's in Louisville
Song to crank up while driving: Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke


I have so much to share and so SO many pictures. It's been an amazing two weeks and the craziness of being back in Boston has already started. It's going to be a fun semester!

Goodbye, Seattle

It's hard to believe it, but our 6 months in Seattle are already over. We leave TOMORROW.

We definitely have mixed emotions about leaving. On the one hand, we're ready to be back in Boston with our apartment, furniture/stuff, and friends. On the other hand, the weather in Seattle has been perfect lately and we've recently discovered a couple places in town that we wish we would have found sooner/had more time to explore.

To sum up our time here, I've come up with a list of my 10 favorite and 10 least favorite things about Seattle.

Least Favorites:
1. Lack of air conditioning in most places, especially in our apartment.
2. Aggressive/mean homeless people.
3. The fact that people sometimes walk around naked in the streets and it's ok. Nothing will shock you more than walking to dinner and rounding the corner only to almost run smack into a topless woman.
4. Ants in our bathroom. Ants in our kitchen. Ants on my arm while I'm sitting on our couch.
5. Lack of parking. Of all the hours we've spent in Seattle, about 50% of them were spent searching for a parking spot. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but... only a little.
6.  Construction. It seems like all of Seattle is currently under construction. Which leads me to...
7. Traffic. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, there is ALWAYS traffic. 1 pm... 10 pm... 7 am... I've never seen anything like it.
8. Pacific Time Zone. I feel like everything revolves around the Eastern Time Zone and being out here makes us feel like we're always behind. And I hate adding 3 hours to the time when I look at the clock to see if it's an acceptable time to text or call someone on the East Coast. It also makes watching a TV show difficult if people on the East Coast watch it first and post about it on Twitter. (#firstworldproblems, I know)
9. Four way stops where no one has a stop sign. There are so many parts of Seattle where there will be an intersection where a logical 4 way or at least 2 way stop should be, and there's just no stop signs. It's like taking your life into your own hands every time you drive.
10. There's no ChickFilA here and the closest Dairy Queen is a 20 minute drive.

Favorites:
1. Mountains and water everywhere. The scenery here never gets old.
2. Walkability. I like that we've lived in a neighborhood where we can walk to work, the grocery, Starbucks, our friends' houses, dinner, frozen yogurt.
3. Speaking of Starbucks... they're everywhere! It's great! I was in a building downtown a few days ago and counted 4 Starbucks in just one building. It would be an understatement to say I've consumed a lot of coffee in the past 6 months.
4. Summer weather. My ideal weather is basically Seattle summer weather. Highs in the 70s-80s, sunny, no humidity, and a little cool at night. I have been in heaven this summer. I think it's Seattle's best kept secret that if you can put up with 9 months of clouds and misty rain, you're rewarded with 3 months of perfection.
5. Unlimited things to do. I feel like Chuck and I have done and seen a TON in these 6 months, but I feel like we barely dented the surface of the amount of places to go and things to do around here.
6. Free time. Without homework and extracurriculars, Chuck had a lot of free time during the week and weekends to hang out with me. This allowed us to do a lot of activities during the week. And by "activities during the week" I mean "sit on the couch and watch countless hours of Justified and Friday Night Lights while drinking chocolate milk." Yep. We're awesome.
7. City Target. A 3 story Target in the middle of downtown that has a special escalator for your shopping cart.
8. Unique bars. Seattle has some really unique bars here that I haven't seen anywhere else. My favorites are the Arcade Bar and the Pie Bar. The Arcade Bar has old school games and pinball machines you can play while you have a little drink. The Pie Bar sells two things- alcohol and pie. It's amazing.
9. Shopping. There are so many good places to shop, downtown, the U-district, the outlets, the malls...
10. I know I already said this one but it really is my favorite, favorite thing about Seattle- the mountains and water. It's just SO. PRETTY. here. Just look at it.

The view from the street corner of our apartment entrance. Not bad.

Two weeks of traveling and then we'll be back in Boston! I'll update soon with pictures and stories from our drive.

Cross Country Road Trippin'

Our 6 months in Seattle are coming to a close and we are preparing for our first ever cross country road trip.

Beginning this Saturday, we are driving (literally) coast to coast- from Seattle to Boston- with several stops in between. The trip will take a total of 2 weeks. Four days to get to Louisville, 7 days there (as we probably won't be back until Christmas), a couple days in Virginia Beach to visit Chuck's sister and her family, and then on to Boston by Labor Day Weekend. We've decided to take our car with us to Boston this year since our apartment has a parking garage and our parking spot is included in the rent. We'll only use it though for weekend adventures and some trips to Target. :)

Here's a little picture of the route we plan to take to get back to Boston.

(Map created with roadtrippers.com. Seriously- one of the coolest websites ever.)

Our first night, we'll spend in Bozeman, MT with a friend from Louisville, Sara,  who lives there. Our second night we'll spend in a hotel near Mt. Rushmore. Our third night we'll spend in Rochester, MN with my best friend Lauren. Then we'll be in Louisville for several days before we head to VA Beach and Boston.  We plan to follow the route above, veering off the path to drive through the Badlands and maybe make some other stops along the way as we see signs that interest us.

We're going to be in the car  A LOT.  Good thing we like each other a lot.

We might be a little crazy to drive this much but we're excited to see parts of the country we've never seen before and see some friends and family along the way! I can't wait to share our stories and pictures on the blog.

Until then, I'll leave you with a video (and song) from my favorite movie about a cross country road trip.

A New Routine

A lot has been happening around here lately.

For starters, I turned 26 last weekend. It was one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time. When we woke up Saturday morning, Chuckie asked what I wanted to go do and of course, I said "donuts." If you know me, you know donuts are my favorite food. So what better way to start off my birthday than with some fresh donuts and coffee?

After donuts, I had an interview with Niketown in downtown Seattle for a part time position, which is in addition to the other two part time marketing/arts jobs I already have out here. Then Chuckie and I went shopping at Banana Republic because we had a Friends and Family discount for 50% off everything and we both had gift cards. Then, only 2 hours after my interview, I got a call from Nike letting me know they'd like to hire me and could I start this Monday?! Um, YES! So now I have 3 jobs.

The evening of my birthday, we decked ourselves out in Louisville apparel and headed to a hole in the wall bar a few minutes from our apartment to watch the Big East Championship game. Louisville pulled out an amazing win- the best birthday present! Then we were off to another bar to meet up with friends and participate in the early St. Patrick's Day celebrations! Like I said, a GREAT birthday this year.

Oh yeah and one of Chuckie's gifts to me was Girl Scout Cookies. Does he know me well or what?

 

So that was Saturday. Monday I started my new job with Niketown, and on Tuesday we moved apartments. Because, you know, we haven't moved enough times this past year already so we wanted to add one more move just for fun. No but seriously. The apartment we were in was ok for a little while. But there were several things about it that we decided we can't deal with for 5 more months. First of all, it was in the basement of a house. We had no windows, no ventilation, crooked floors, and probably some mold from occasional basement flooding. Also, it was a studio- so basically all just one big room, which is not ideal for hosting visitors.

 

So we found this new apartment through the same company. It is also fully furnished, so moving would only require moving our few belongings we brought to Seattle, in a better location close enough for Chuck to have a 10 minute walk to work and close enough for me to walk to Niketown, a one bedroom so much bigger, a designated parking spot, and a brand new kitchen and bathroom. Oh yeah, and we have tons of windows. I am not exaggerating when I say my overall mood has improved SO much just in the few days since we moved here. I think it's the windows.

Oh and I love what we named our WiFi router.

View of the Olympic Mountains from our living room? Ok!

We love it.

So, in addition to turning 26, getting a new job and a new apartment, we're also trying to get out of the rut we've been in lately where Chuck gets home from work, we make dinner and then proceed to spend our evening watching Raylan Givens mess some people up on our new favorite show, Justified. And while we love our Raylan Givens and plan to keep watching so we can catch up to the current season, we have a new plan to start getting a run in or some type of exercise after work before the dinner and Justified routine starts. I know it's not a profound idea- this is what most normal people do on a daily basis. So we need to become normal. We need to get healthier and stop being so lazy. Plus, now that I'm working at Nike I'm required to wear the Nike Fuelband so I gotta hit my daily Fuel points goal, people!

This weekend we're looking forward to watching a lot of basketball and exploring more of Seattle. My parents come to town next weekend for their Spring Break visit- I can't wait.

Happy Friday, everyone!

 

March 7, 2012

This sounds really dramatic... but I'm saying it anyway because I don't know how else to start this post. So here it goes.

One year ago today, our lives changed forever.

Ok. Got that over with so now I can tell you why.

Last year at this time, we knew Chuckie would find out soon about LGO. Current students told us that when you're accepted, you get a phone call from Don, the head of the program. For whatever reason, we were expecting the phone calls (or no phone calls) to happen the week of the 10th-11th. We had psyched ourselves up for months leading up to this- the GMAT, the application process and due date, waiting to see if he would get an interview, the actual interview... It was several months of agony. (Well, for me anyway. I'm a very impatient person.) So by early March, we were more than ready to find out if we were going to uproot our lives in Kentucky or if we should plan to settle in for another year while Chuckie re-applied and/or applied to other schools he was interested in.

So Wednesday, March 7th, we were hanging out at my parents house watching a UofL basketball game (surprise, surprise) with my dad, when a voicemail appeared on Chuck's phone. He had turned it off earlier during the game because it was acting up. Around 9 o'clock when he turned the phone back on, the voicemail appeared. Of course, he had missed a call in the 10 minutes his phone was off. He looked to see who it was from and said "It's a 617 number..." and started to listen. I could tell instantly by his face what it was, and I knew 617 was Boston's area code.

When he hung up he said, "Well, that was Don. Telling me I've been accepted to LGO!" I think I started screaming, my dad jumped out of his chair and high fived us and Chuck immediately started making phone calls to his parents and sisters to share the good news. My dad reveled in the fact that he was the first one to find out because he was "in the right place at the right time" and we waited for my mom to get home to tell her the news.

That night and the days following were so exciting but also full of mixed emotions. We both had great jobs in Louisville, great friends, a good routine and of course our families. Why would we want to leave all of that behind? Move to a city where we knew no one? Give up our weekly paychecks? Move away in the middle of planning our wedding? Miss our family and friends who mean everything to us? Because it's an adventure. Because we will grow. Because grad school has always been Chuckie's goal. Because it's an investment in our future. Because WHO SAYS NO TO MIT???

While LGO didn't technically start until June, I will always think of March 7th as the beginning of our LGO journey.  And I know I keep saying  "we" and "us" and "our journey" and talking like I'm in the program too so I need to note that while I am not up doing homework until 3 am, taking classes, tests, going to meetings, working for these partner companies, etc etc (Chuckie and LGO classmates- you're amazing, I don't know how you all do it), the SOs are VERY MUCH a part of the LGO program and this is our adventure too.  And we get the better end of the deal because while our LGOs are studying and doing homework, we're having happy hours and exploring Boston. :)

It's been a crazy year and we're looking forward to the adventures still ahead of us the next year and 3 months of the program. It's already going by so fast!

Uncle Jesse is 24

The blog has been a little quiet lately for no reason other than that just not much has been going on. I've been living the semi-unemployed life which includes a lot of walking the neighborhood, running errands like bank trips, job interviews and applications, and a LOT of Full House and Boys Meets World reruns on afternoon television.

Sidenote: Did you know that in the first season of Full House, Uncle Jesse is only 24 years old!?! What!? I am older than UNCLE JESSE?! I am not happy with this realization. (I need a job, quick, before I find out Mr. Pheeny on Boy Meets World was only 30 or something.)

Anyway, last week Chuck was in Phoenix and then we had a relatively quiet weekend followed by a relatively quiet week. We haven't been able to get out and do much exploring in Seattle yet, until this weekend.

Friday night we found a movie theater and went to see "A Good Day to Die Hard." It was your classic Die Hard movie, a little cheesy, a little funny, and a lot of car chases and explosions. It was just ok- but nothing can compare to my favorite one in the series- the very first Die Hard, where Bruce Willis throws Snape off the roof of a building at the end.

On Saturday we drove to a park really close to where we live called Discovery Park.  I made Chuck drive all the way down this little road in the park because I could see on the map that it led to the beach. When we got to the end of the road we found the beach, but also found that it was permit parking only. So I snapped this picture of a little lighthouse and then we headed back to the main parking lot.

Once we parked, we got a trail map and decided to walk the 2.8 mile trail loop around the park. It was awesome. It wasn't a bad walk and we got some great views along the way. I only wish it had been a little sunnier out!

Puget Sound. Without all the clouds you'd be able to see huge mountains in the distance.

After our walk, we met up with Gold and Orion at Gas Works Park, also close to where we live. Gas Works Park is right on Lake Union and has great views of the Seattle skyline. Supposedly this is the place to be on the 4th of July for the fireworks show. We'll have to find out!

About 50% of the pictures I've taken since last June have had sailboats in them. Why stop now?

And my favorite picture of the day- Chuck took this panoramic of Puget Sound on our walk. I love it.

Sunday we went apartment hunting for most of the day and then spent our afternoon hanging out at Starbucks with our laptops. I job searched and Chuckie worked on... something. It was a nice relaxing Sunday and I think we found a new apartment! More details on that soon.

I'll be back soon with more about our new apartment, remembering the start of our LGO journey that began one year ago this week, and Sami's visit- she gets here this Saturday!!

And now I'll leave you with the most attractive picture we've ever taken of ourselves. Have a good week everyone!

 

Atlantic to Pacific

We did it! We actually got out of Boston on time yesterday and made it to Seattle without a single problem! It's a miracle.

Here's a glimpse of Boston-Logan airport yesterday morning. It. was. empty.

Right before we got on the plane I snapped this picture.

"Boston Mayor: State of Emergency at Noon."
 I'm not exaggerating when I say that I think we were literally the last flight to leave the airport. Our flight was scheduled for 11:50. Any later and I think we would have been out of luck.

We got to Seattle around 5pm West Coast time. We immediately found the light rail from the airport and took it to downtown where got a taxi to take us to Fremont, the neighborhood north of downtown Seattle where we'll be living.

We immediately (and accidentally) disregarded the signs on the light rail asking us to not store luggage in the spot that is for disabled and elderly people. Whoops.

On the way to our apartment, my little sis texted me and asked me to send her a picture of something "Seattle-ish." Soon after, we drove past the Space Needle and I figured that was as good as anything else to send to her. I can't wait to go back and actually visit the Space Needle.

 

 

 

We were so tired by the time we got in and got settled at our apartment that we didn't feel like doing too much, but we were hungry so we ventured out into Fremont to find some dinner. We found several restaurants just 3 blocks from our apartment so just picked one. It was Mexican cuisine and it was SO. GOOD. It was kind of like an upscale Chipotle or Qdoba. Chuckie got a (very small) margarita and drank the whole thing before our food was brought to us, so the guy (who was delivering the food to all the tables) brought him a second margarita, for free. I'm not kidding. He said "Did you open a bar tab? It looks like you need another margarita!" and Chuck said "No I didn't, but I should have I guess!" and the guy said "Yep. That's ok. I'm going to bring you another one anyway."  I think he may have been the manager and he could tell we were new and wanted to ensure we'd be back to his restaurant. Well, he did. We'll probably go back this week.

 

 

Though I'm really not happy to be outside of the eastern time zone, between the super clean rail line and stations, the small bit of downtown we saw on our taxi ride, the free margarita, and the 2 physicians who live in the apartments above us in our house (it's a house split into 4 apartments),  I think we're going to enjoy our time in Seattle for these 6 months.

 

 

And now we're off to find a grocery, explore downtown Fremont, and later find a bar where we can watch tonight's UofL basketball game!



2012: The Best Year Ever

2012 was a huge year. My life in 2011 and my life in 2012? Completely different. In a good way. But seriously. Things could not be more different now than they were just a year ago.

January
- We got engaged. (Not technically January, but December 28, 2011 is pretty close.... So I'm going to count it.)
- We started planning our wedding and picked a date, location and I found a wedding dress.

February
- Chuck flew to Boston to interview for LGO.

Interview Day!

March
- We found out Chuck got into MIT which meant we found out we'd be moving in a matter of a few months.

Out celebrating LGO, two days after we found out.

April
- I went to LA with my best friend to visit our other best friend and we went SKYDIVING. The decision to do this went something like this (via texting):
Liz: "Hey we should go skydiving in LA!"
Me: "Ok!"
Liz: "Seriously?!!?!?!?"
Me: "YES!"
Group text:
Liz: "Hey Emily, we think we should go skydiving when we're in LA in a few weeks."
Emily: "HELL YES."

And so it was decided.

Right before we got on the plane to jump out. So jealous of Liz's purple suit.

I promise you, riding in that rickety old plane was way scarier than jumping out of it.

May
- Chuck left his job at GE and I left my job at the Kentucky Center.

The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

 - We packed up our entire lives, said goodbye to our family and friends, and moved to Boston.

We look thrilled. This is what 16 hours in a car will do to you.

 June
- Chuck started school at MIT.

- I started a new job at MIT.

July
- We spent the 4th of July in the birthplace of America! Probably my favorite thing we did all summer.

August
- Chuck finished his first semester of grad school.
- We moved into a new apartment in Cambridge.
- We got married and I became Rachel Cummings!

Gettin married.

Thank you to the cranky desk clerk who took this picture for us at almost 3 am when we arrived at the Seelbach.

 September
- We went to Maine! A state I was pretty sure I would never visit.

- Emily visited us in Boston.

October
- We camped in New Hampshire.

- Hurricane Sandy happened.

November
- My sisters visited us in Boston!

Sami, you're supposed to lay ON the air mattress, not UNDER it.

Laura, enjoying a tasty beverage at an Italian restaurant in the North End.

- My childhood best friend Lauren visited us in Boston!

- We found out Chuckie got an off-cycle internship with Amazon and started planning to move to Seattle.

December
- End of Chuck's 2nd semester of MIT.
- Traveled to Louisville to spend 2.5 weeks with friends and family for Christmas!

2013 is going to have a hard time living up to 2012.

Happy New Year, everyone! Here's to new beginnings, new friendships, new challenges and everything else new that comes with a new year!

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. :)