Oregon, my Oregon

I'm sitting in the airport right now, looking out the big windows on a bit of a dreary morning, but for some reason I've never seen the state look more beautiful. I'm a bit of a walking dichotomy right now, I'm very excited to start this new part of my life, but I'm also very sad to have to leave home behind.

I've never lived more than 2 hours away from the house I grew up in, something which has been great through college because it was close enough to go visit but far enough that I wasn't there all the time. Ive never lived in any other state and being a native Oregonian has really meant a lot to me.

So now it's hard to leave. Hard to walk away but really necessary. For any of my friends reading this it's meant so much to have you guys in my life. We've laughed, cried, partied, been hungover, tide-pooled, kicked ass, knitted, driven crazy vans at insane hours, and tons of other things. Really, I love you all.

Moving

It's only day two and I'm already tired of this packing and moving thing. Really, it's not that great. I'm still searching for the way to just have my entire apartment shipped to Catalina instead of having to clean it all out. It's getting a little depressing. I'm thinking that maybe I'll just sneak off for the afternoon and go see a movie. Except that I don't have time for that...I've been working all day so maybe I'll go rent something just to get a couple hours to myself. I need a break. It's sad being here packing everything and seeing the apartment drained of the life that I put into it. At least I'm not crying anymore. I've had a lot of good times in this place, a lot of things have happened here which I'll never forget. Just don't like packing it all up.

The Boiler and new Goo

Yesterday I went to Boiler Bay for the last time, and realized that it was my last trip to the intertidal! Trista came along for moral support and also to take some pictures of me in the field for my presentation at our symposium this week. We had a great time in the sunshine looking at tide pools and also I finally fulfilled a dream of mine. Boiler Bay is named after the boiler that washed up from a ship wreck a long time ago, and since I started coming here I've always wanted to get inside the boiler and have my picture taken. So Team Baby Tardigrade succeeded in making my dream come true. I jumped inside and did a little stomach flop to get in while Trista took pictures. It was amazing. Everything I had hoped for and more.

On an awesome note, the Goo Goo Dolls have a new song out that goes along with a big summer movie (I forget which one) and it's pretty good. Been digging on it the last few days.