Halfway to Kansas

It's been a LONG day. I'm sitting in Evansville, Indiana and am headed off to bed in a minute. We got up and headed out at 6:30, actually making it to the interstate at 7:30am. We made it through the mountains and dropped a few hundred on gas before making it to Evansville at 9pm central time, which is 10 eastern...and that's a long day! We are all tired.

Tomorrow, Wichita! It's going to be fun, my unloading will occur in the snow! Why...why...is it still snowing? Seriously!

Night all

Much love

Graduation

Today was a great and full day of Graduation. The day started at 6:15...getting ready and finished at 10pm after packing up the car. Adam and I went to the big school wide graduation, which was actually quite a good ceremony. I now actually have my Master's degree. Billy Ray was my speaker...no not Cyrus...but I thought that at first. We were to call him Dr. Bubba. He was funny and a good speaker.

Before the processional while we were all assembling, I became the resident hood fixer. I was the only one that knew how they were supposed to look. It became kind of an obsession too...if I saw someone I wanted to fix it. Probably 85-90% of people didn't have the hoods right which isn't surprising...I certainly didn't know how they went the first time I had one.

The departmental graduation was short and sweet. There was a really long speech by the Dean...that wasn't as interesting as the real speaker we had earlier. I got to get a way cool diploma cover though. Fun!

It's been a good day, it's hard to believe that I'm done here, even though i haven't been here for a while. I am really happy to have a job and in the plains, but I will miss Raleigh...mostly the great friends I have here...Those not in Raleigh tooo...I miss Emily and Michael who are in Wilmington. Sad to be far away. I know we will remain friends. Please remember I have an extra room...please stop by if you are near, or let me know if you're in Norman...I can head down to see you.

Picture of the day....

Adam and I after the big Graduation....the front shot.


Same picture....the back shot! Check out those hoods! They look good! Hey that's the whole reason I got a Master's! HA! Just kidding!

Much love

All Loaded up...now Graduation time

Today has been a wonderful, busy, and long day! I enjoyed it a lot though! It was so wonderful to see all my friends. I got up early and headed to school to get my Graduation getup. Now I get to wear it tomorrow. I got the truck, complete with furniture pads and headed back to Cary. Then back to school to do my rounds to see people. I was glad to see everyone at RIII and Jordan. We did some lunch, and headed to my storage unit. With Emily, Michael, Adam, Ben, Miranda, my parents and myself, we got the truck loaded up in a couple hours, maybe less. It went pretty well. Thanks of course the the others! I never would have been able to do it myself. The size of the truck is perfect, it all fit pretty much top to bottom, front to back without much room to spare. People doubted that it would all fit, but I know it did would and it did! VERY EXCITING. Tonight was dinner with those who helped me. It's been a great day, I'm tired and am headed to bed.

Up early tomorrow to go to Graduation! I've got my gown, now I just have to get there. Good times!

I'm extremely thankful for everyone's help. Thanks Emily, Michael, Adam, Miranda, and Ben! It was also great to see Susan at dinner! Thanks again everyone!

Much love

5 things that annoy me about airports

I'm currently sitting in the Wichita airport! YEA! I'm kinda closer to Raleigh...Well my flight leaves in an hour, so I've got plenty of time, but Wichita (unlike just about every other airport) offers free wifi! So here I am! YEA! Good way to kill time... And with that I will mention the 5 things that annoy me the most about airports.


5. Paying for wifi....it should always be free like it is here at Wichita! I like Wichita more and more each day!

4. Taking my drinks away from me before I get through security. I had planned all out, to bring a bottle of D. Pepsi with me, but then remembered that I couldn't bring liquids. So then you require me to pay an exorbarent price to get drinks and even toiletries if you've thrown mine away. Some law should be enacted so that prices are at least comparable to the "real world". I'm all about safety, but 2.50-3.50 for a 20oz is rediculus. I bet the food shops make more than the airlines.

3. The cost of food! It's crazy that a McDonalds meal costs 7 dollars in an airport when you can get the same thing (with bigger sizes actually) for 3-4 dollars just down the street. Not fair.

2. Being cold. It's cold in everything that has to do with airports! The waiting rooms, the airplanes..just everywhere. Why ya gotta freeze in the summer and winter just to fly somewhere else. Good thing I come prepared with sweatshirts and coats!

1. The rudeness of the TSA people. Now I know that you don't have the most glamorous job and that people get pissy, but sometimes it's because of how you act toward them! Why ya gotta yell? I mean come on, yes, some people are dumb...but some are not. You don't gotta yell at me and say...shoes on the belt by themselves. Last time it was ok if the shoes went in a box with coats and everything else. Heck I at least took them off, should be clue number one, I know what I'm doing and you don't need to yell at me. I'm nice, I try to wish you a good day and you yell...puts me in a bad mood. How would you like being yelled at?


So those are my top 5 things in airports right now as i sit here and think. Hopefully next time I write I'll be in Raleigh!

Much Love!

3 big things in 9 days!

After work tomorrow I will head to the airport to head to Raleigh. My flight is to arrive into Raleigh, barring any delays, at midnight tomorrow night. Then Tuesday comes and I get to see friends and load a truck! FUN! Emily and Michael are driving up and I'm way excited to see them. Then of course Adam and Miranda, Ben and hopefully Susan, and Kelly and everyone else! I don't know exactly how this week will play out, I've got some things that have to be done at certain times. However, it will be a lot of play it by ear type of planning.

I'm way excited, but it's hard to believe that it's finally time to go back to Raleigh and move my stuff.

I got the keys and moved my car load of stuff into my apt. I'm so so so so excited to get all of my things there next Saturday. Less than a week! It will be so wonderful to have an apartment again, and after christmas I'll even have my kitty again! The next 9 days a big and I'm looking forward to them all! Graduation, moving into my new apt, and Christmas!

I finished up my Christmas shopping today! I only had one thing left, and I went to get it today. The stores were crazy today, I'm so glad to have it done. Just now...to get it to people. YEA!

Tomorrow a fun day of work and travel!


Picture of the week....


Me and the Icelandic scenary. Beautiful isn't it! I loved Iceland! Thanks Elin!


Much love all

Do you have yours???

Have you been inoculated? What about your kids?





Be sure to show this to your kids when they are older!


Much love

Week 1 Completed!

Well it's hard to believe, but I've completed my first week of work. It was great! I loved every minute of it. My starting week has been action packed with a freezing rain event and now a winter storm event. I've definitely not been bored, and still have a huge list of tasks to accomplish. I'm getting the tasks down, one more day of "training" before I'm alone on the shift the Saturday before Christmas. I've even gotten into answering the phone, which was probably the scariest task I've taken on. It's gotten less scary the more I pick them up. I'm still unsure about some questions, but that will come with experience. I already got better between today and yesterday. It's crazy...I don't hesitate to pick up the phone, but still get unsure about some of the questions. That's ok...it's only my 3rd day on the floor and really 1st answering the phone. Sooo anywho.

Snow is here...how much will we see here in Wichita? It's been snowing off and of since 6pm. The question will be how much will accumulate overnight. Places not that far north and east of here have gotten 7-9 inches so far and it's not over. We haven't gotten near that much yet, only an inch or so.

I'm planning on totally relaxing tomorrow! Just because I CAN! I haven't just relaxed in forever! Sleeping in and not having any expectations, is a great feeling! I'm going to enjoy day's off.

I signed the lease on my apt today, it's great! I went and looked at it before I signed the lease and it looks good. Clean and no big problems. It's defiantly the nicest place I've lived in. I can't wait to get my keys on Sunday! Then have my stuff next week! YEA! Just one week away!

Picture of the Day....


Russian Palace along the canals in St. Petersburg. It's hard to explain, but all of the streets that lined the numerous canals all had buildings like this. The buildings just looked like a continuous block of buildings for miles! It was very interesting!

Snow anyone?

Snow's in the forecast! Area's around Wichita could receive up to 6 inches of snow. It's insane how much Winter has blown in with mucho gusto! I finished my second morning shift. I did it myself with guidance from Chris, which was my goal. Since I only have 2 more days of training, I've got to get it down. I've made myself a checklist so that I can be better prepared for that time. Still loving it.

This snow, however, has really timed itself terribly for placement and whatnot for travel for my parents this weekend. Of course the system will follow them, if only they could get south quicker and have it not take as long. That's the issue.

Tomorrow I will sign the lease for my new apt. I'm so excited! I won't get the keys until Sunday, but heck! I'll almost have it tomorrow! Mine! Mine!! Mine!!! My own place to live! Then in another week, I'll actually be able to live in it! Very very exciting!

Another video...the Ice storm in OK...This is amazing and deadly!

Killer Ice - Watch more free videos

Be careful and much love!

In the Christmas spirit?

Things are going well in my neck of the woods. It's still hard to believe that I'm working, it will take a few weeks for it to become less of a novelty. I'm working each day, but I'm getting to do what I love, where I love and it just feels like a gift each 8 hours. Definately a different feeling than I've had before other jobs. Don't get me wrong, I have not disliked any of my jobs, but I LOVE this one!

A snow storm on its way to the area, we'll see how that hampers things. I've definately gotten my share of winter weather since moving back to the Plains. This storm could interfere with my parents travel to North Carolina. I'm hoping it won't, and it shouldn't to much...but it could be interesting. It will be interesting to know now, which route I'll need to take to get back to Wichita. I want to go north because it's shorter, but the snow and weather may push me to the south, driving on I-40. Only time will tell.

Kristone had this up, and I LOVE it, so I had to post it too...check it out, this will replace the picture of the day today. Enjoy

Love

Day 2 and the ice that didn't come.

Today...day 2 of my new career was good! I arrived and was immediately taken from paperwork to on the floor where I participated in the freezing rain and ice storm event. That was wonderful! I was thrown right into it. The hubub quieted down pretty quickly around 9-10am, and then I worked on AWIPS and my paperwork for the rest of the day. So overall the day was amazing! I feel less like a visitor in the workplace and that I belong, which is really really nice.

Tomorrow morning I start shift work, the 6-2 shift with the current Intern as my trainer. Should be fun. I'll be getting use to the 6-2 shift as it's what I'll be doing for the next 3 weeks when I'm in town. Very exciting.

Wichita didn't get the much ice, and what did accumulate on the trees, melted by late afternoon with the 33-34 degree temps. However, Salina, Hutchison and north of Wichita did get a lot of ice and have a lot of power outages and tree limbs down. Tonight it was still misting and it's about 28-29...so it will probably be freezing again, but the worst is gone and Wichita was spared.

All in all a great day and I'm looking forward to the remainder of the week. I best head to bed though so that i can get up at 4:30am. Fun times! HA!

Picture of the day....

The Blarney stone at Blarney Castle. See the window and the shadow of people above it. That holds the Blarney stone. You must kiss the blarney stone while hanging upside down to have the gift of eloquence. I've done that, hopefully I have eloquence.

Much Love

Day 1....The Job starts out with a big freeze!

I made it to Wichita!!!!

I got into town around 5pm Sunday night. The roads turned out to be not to bad, and I'm glad I waited till Sunday to leave. Anywho, I got into town and had some dinner with Mary-Beth and someone else from work. I'm staying with Mary-Beth who is a journeyman forecaster and has been oh so sweet in giving me a place to stay for the first week of my time in Wichita. So I unloaded my car on the icy pathways and got my room sorted out.

Sleeping last night didn't work for me, my mind kept thinking about things. I was tired, but so anxious. So don't know how much I slept, but it didn't seem like much. I got up and got ready and headed right on into my first day as a Meteorologist!!! YEA!

My first day was good! Filled with paperwork, but good. I met a few more forecasters and learned a bit about things I'm going to be doing in the next couple day. Wednesday I begin the shift work. This is such and amazing opportunity and I'm blessed to have it! I'm so excited, yet it doesn't seem real. I'm sitting there in the office and I still feel like a visitor. No one does anything to make me feel that way, it's just that I've been in and out of offices since 2002, but I've always been a volunteer or visitor. I've learned so much today, and tomorrow bodes to be the same. Good thing I like learning.

Tomorrow will be interesting....as you've probably heard, Oklahoma was slammed by an ice storm sun night into monday morning. Well Wichita is in for that tonight(mon to tues morning). So it will be interesting to see how getting to work in the morning goes.

It's exciting to begin my career as a Meteorologist in the middle of an Ice storm. Crazy times!!!



Picture of the day....

In honor of the Oklahoma Ice storm and the pending/current Ice storm in Wichita, this is a picture of the amount of ice that Kearney got last New Years. Good luck those in Oklahoma, and also those in Kansas!

Much love!

Why should I be in Wichita?

Picture it.....you are starting your new dream job in a city 350 miles away in 32 hours, Where would you be? Prepping for the new job? or sitting 350 miles away from it because of a winter storm. So I had planned on driving to Wichita today, but the winter weather has struck me down. My dad came home and told my mom the roads were bad...so she really wasn't happy that I was leaving. I finally decided that I'd wait until tomorrow, get up early (because by this time it was 1pm and I'd be driving at night) and drive slowly. So I'll be driving in daylight and hopefully make it to Wichita with 14 hours or so to spare. What a doozy. Then Wichita is in for Freezing rain for a few days! They are getting it now. All very exciting, and annoying. It did give me a day to get some other things done without rushing. I've got my car gassed and loaded. I just have to get ready, zip up the suitcases and head on my way...well more or less.

It's hard to believe I'm starting my job in just 32 hours, especially when I'm sitting 350 miles away from it. Oh well, it will all work out! I'm excited and anxious for the next few days! Hopefully I'll have internet when I get to Wichita so I can write about the first day of my future!

Much love!

Travel Picture of the day....

My other favorite federal employee. I got to see Amy in Washington DC the weekend I got back into the USA. I haven't seen her for more than 2 hours in 7 years! We had so much catching up to do, we didn't get it all done. I loved every minute of it though! I hope I can see her again around Christmas!

Moving on

Well the time has come for me to move to Wichita...my new adventure will start soon. I leave today, after wrapping some presents and packing up my car, for Wichita. It's extremely hard to believe that I am starting a job on Monday. Not just any job, but my dream job! Which I don't think helps its feeling like reality. This whole job thing will be an adjustment. I've been a student for so long. I know how to do that. I do look forward to this adventure and know it will all work out.

It feels weird partly because I'm not moving into an apartment before I start. I've never just moved somewhere without settling in, at least somewhat. So it just feels like I'm going to Wichita. I think that aided in my procrastination in packing.

The snow that has fallen and continues to fall in Nebraska, along with the freezing rain and sleet and ice that is in Kansas will make for an interesting drive tomorrow afternoon. Keep me in your thoughts as I travel these difficult roads and pray they will be somewhat cleared.

Wichita, here I come!!!

Much Love




Travel Picture of the Day....

The Beatiful Ring of Kerry. Ireland is a beautiful country. I can't wait to go back! If you go, rent a car and drive through it. It's an experince you'd love! The Ring of Kerry is an exciting circle of roads around the small peninsula of Kerry. There are many tour busses and tourists that travel this road, and at times it's barely wide enough for 2 cars, let alone a car and a bus. An adventure around every twist and turn.

The sadness in Omaha

I have thought a lot about the awful tragedy that occurred in Omaha, so I figured I'd take a moment to reflect on it. I don't have anything profound to day, but here it goes anyway. I was baking bread Wednesday afternoon when I saw a scroll across the bottom of the TV screen saying there were shots fired. Since it was a scroll it took a bit to get the whole thing out, and my mind immediately went to thoughts that something bad happened because the president was in our state. However, very quickly learned it had nothing to do with the President's visit. I was saddened to learn the news, and shortly thereafter the ABC nightly news broke in with the news. I couldn't believe it made national news. Very little that happens in Nebraska makes the national news. But when I think of it, had 9 people been killed on a shooting rampage in a mall it would have made the news where ever it happened. I find myself the most sad when I think about the families of those killed, when it is personalized. I even think about the shooters family. Yes, he did a terrible thing, but his parents and friends also lost a loved one. Even with the awful thing he did, they are still hurting.

There are questions on the tv about, what would you do? What could have been done to prevent this? Will you shop in a mall now? Does this make Nebraska look bad? I guess while learning about it, I've thought about what I'd do in a situation like that one, but you never know when the adrenaline starts pumping. It seems like this disturbed man was put into many places that tried to help him. I don't think anyone is to fault here. He was just a sad, disturbed man that unfortunately did an awful thing. I won't not shop in a mall...it happened one place, I won't live my life in fear. And does this make Nebraska look bad? Well I didn't think Virginia looked bad after saddly so many student's were lost last year...why would Nebraska look bad. I think many things look good, like that the emergency responded so quickly...people knew what to do and action was taken. Why would the state look bad? It's not the state's fault. I still feel safe in Nebraska, and would live here any day. I'll even still shop in Omaha!

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones.

Much love all! Much love!

Picture of the Day...

While thinking of loved ones, this is my parents and I in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

A chance of wintery mix!

Wellll welll wellll......

Margret Joanne has informed me (because I've been busy and not looking at the weather myself at all) that I am beginning my new job in the middle of an ice/snow storm. Good times! I've had ice and snow for the past week and I'm plenty sick of it. My worry is that I will be driving to Wichita in this mess on Saturday. Shall be a fun and exciting next few days...it was to begin with, and now this makes it even more.

I'm ready for the winter to stop and it's not even winter yet!

Love

Picture of the day.....

Remember what it was like in the summer....I like this much better!! Come back summer, come back!

When there isn't much to say...say it in pictures

Not much to say today...it's late, I'm tired..and I have a big day of baking tomorrow! Christmas fun, here I come!!!!

Travel Picture of the day....

This is one, of about 15 brides we saw in the middle of St. Petersburg, Russia taking pictures. They all go around the city to all of the tourist sites and take pictures. It's really quite crazy. I've never seen so many brides on one day. It was a friday afternoon. Can you imagine traveling all around a huge city taking pictures while 10 other brides are behind you taking their pictures. Well it wasn't that bad, but there were 4 different couples taking pictures at the church below. The above picture was taken across the street from this church (I forget its name).

50 is warm??

It's winter in Nebraska!
I've never ever enjoyed winter...not at least in the years I remember. I don't enjoy the snow, cold, ice, cold, dreariness, and did I mention the cold? I, unlike just about everyone else, actually prefer to be hot over being cold. So in the gloriousness that is Nebraska...I am back to experiencing the wonderfulness of chilly days/nights etc. Today, however, it almost reached 50, and maybe it did..I'm not totally sure. Regardless, it felt "warm", well relatively. When you can take off your coat and walk around it's a good day. This folks is the reason I moved south for schooling. On the other hand, it's funny how relativeness temperature is. I remember each spring when I was younger (and it of course still happens today), people wear shorts and drive with the window's down at the first sign of 50 degrees. Then in the fall, when it hits about 65, everyone's in long johns and coats! It makes me laugh. It's also funny to see the gradient of tolerances from north to south for winter weather. What Texas people think is bad, Nebraska people laugh at, and what Nebraska people think is bad, Minnesota and North Dakota people laugh at. Reality is in the eye of the beholder...he who perceives it.

I hope your reality is warm and fuzzy! Do you like the cold weather like everyone else, or prefer to have it warmer like me?



Travel photo of the day....

Myself standing on top of York Minster Cathedral. The beautiful building behind me. I was on a foot wide walk way on the way down from the top where I saw spectacular views of the city and surrounding countryside. See it's cold....check out the coat and scarf (it was also rainy, yuck).

Love

Top Christmas Things?

What are your top Christmas things?

My top 5 Christmas things:

5. Decorating for Christmas. I love decorating for most holiday's, but all of the cute things that you can find for Christmas make it so much more fun! I just wish that I had my own apartment to decorate this year. I'm tempted to put up a few things after Christmas just for the heck of it....why not? Yes I am crazy!

4. Seeing family and friends. Since I've been away from home for the past 6 years, it's been difficult to see all of my family and friends. However, the Christmas season usually means I get to see everyone. I am especially thankful for those friends that are also away from home and we get to see each other about once a year at Christmas.

3. Christmas Baking! I LOVE Baking and baking at Christmas is the best! Each year I make bread, cookies, candy (carmels, etc.), snack mix, and the famous Taco Chex. There is more I'm sure, but I can't remember. When I was younger, my mom and I would make 3-4 dozen loafs of bread to give as gifts...its tamed now, as we might make a dozen.

2. Giving Christmas Presents to my friends and family! One of my favorites in the recent years, is surprising my mom with one of my Kristone's creations of my Mother's retirement picture and her nursing pinning picture many years earlier. She was super surprised! I'm excited this year for what I've got people! I can't wait to give it to them, and I've got ages to wait it seems!

1. Christmas Eve service at 11pm on the 24th, because when it's over, it's Christmas. When I was little and still today it's a race to see who remembers and says Merry Christmas first at midnight. Also when I was little it was important to get right home to bed so that Santa would come. I also love the singing of all the christmas carols at church, I'd many times sleep through the service (when I was really young) until the songs, then wake up and sing...say Merry Christmas and go home to bed.


What are your top 5 things?



Daily travel photo:

A beautiful picture of a canel in Copenhagan. Copenhagan, Denmark was a beautiful city! I can't wait to go back! Check out all the pretty colored houses.

It's December....Christmas anyone?

November has come and gone, and I'm not quite sure where it went, but regardless it's December. Well for the first time in ages, I'm just about done with purchasing gifts for friends and family! I LOVE giving gifts for Christmas. I get so excited when I have some, what I think are good ideas for people. A year ago I hadn't even started shopping by the 15th of December, so being practically done by the 1st is pretty good.

Today we put up the Christmas Tree. It has been a few years that I've been home to help put up the christmas tree. I enjoy the family event the Christmas tree is. Now all that is waiting is some wrapped presents. I am a little sad though, because I'm going to get into my new apartment without any of my christmas decorations and get settled after Christmas, so I won't be able to use any of my new decorations anyway. Sad I tell you...sad.

Today's traveling photo:



This is me getting my groove on in Russia. I was picked from the audience at lunch to help play this little instrument up on the stage. It was quite fun! They made other people dance, so I was thankful! They also sang for us. Lunch in Russia consisted of some very weird red soup...caviar...vodka...beer....water(which is what I wanted after walked so much)...and other things...but that's what I remember. I loved our authentic meals while we were traveling. The next Russian song you hear...listen carefully, it just might be me playing the crazy instrument! HA!

Love

Ice Storm 07? Again

If I remember right it was just 11 months ago that Kearney was hit by the second ice storm in 2 weeks over New Years, and it was called Ice Storm 07...but I could be wrong. As I sit here delaying bed (for who knows what reason) I can hear sleet/freezing rain hitting the window. *This is a pretty amazing feat since the window into my room is about the size of a microwave, and half in the ground* I checked before heading downstairs and yes there is ice on the ground and it is beginning to get slick. Could be quite an interesting day tomorrow. The sleet/freezing rain is coming down harder now...and pumpkin is really interested in it, however he can't get to the window.

I find it amazing that last year when the ice storm hit it was hovering around freezing and it was a big issue of where the ice line would be...however tonight it's in the low 20's and we are still getting freezing rain. Thank you, warm air from the south.

Soon I will be apart of the organization that actually makes the warnings like we are currently in....amazing really, and some adjusting it will take. I'm just use to being a sideline person, or a watcher from home. Oh how I can't wait to see what the future entails for me.

With that I'm off to bed. I've been thinking my blog is quite drab...so I thought I'd post a picture from my trip a few months ago. Maybe I'll post a few more, and maybe even write about some of the countries I promised I'd write about.



*Catherine's Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. This Palace was HUGE! It also had some of the elaborate and gaudiest rooms I've ever seen...and I've been to some elaborate and gaudy places. It was awesome though! I love visiting palaces. Check out Catherine's Palace if you are in St. Petersburg.

The other side of the AM

Since it's 5am and I'm still awake, I figured I'd send a little love your way. I've been up later and later each night for the past week! I'm getting full into swing...Jerilyn hours! I love sleeping till noon or later and staying up late! So here I am..up the latest I've been in quite a while. A few short months ago, I was on the other side of the AM...where I would set my alarm to get up at 5am. Now of course, I rarely was up at 5am...just hitting the snoze for 30-45 minutes, but you know what I mean.

Just a little over a week until I head for Wichita. I still can't believe it at times, but it's slowly sinking in. Sorry if I keep talking about it, but it's pretty much what is going on in my life right now. I've got plenty to do in the next week...to keep me busy. I'm hoping to get it all done, the list includes...Christmas Shopping, completing it. Wrapping all presents to leave here. Christmas Decorating...cause it's fun! Christmas Baking....oh how I love me some Baking! Oh there's more, but they aren't important.

That's all for now...I hurt and am getting sleepy.

Much Love

Seven Weird Things

I've been tagged for a meme! Thanks, Susan!

I will now do my best to complete this, even though it is 3am and I'm still awake, but should be going to sleep! As Susan says I'm am weird, so be it I guess.

So here are the rules of this meme:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

And here are seven weird facts about me:


1. Until the age of...I'm not sure, 12-13, I wanted to be a babysitter when I grew up. I always wanted to be a babysitter so when I was old enough to not be taken care of by my sitter, I helped her out, being an extra set of eyes to watch the kiddies. When I got even older, I had decided this was not going to be my career, but I still would go watch the kids (sometimes up to 8-10) while she was at an appointment, etc.

2. I'm not the cleanest person when it comes to household tidiness, but even when my house is a pit (Which it often was while I was crazy busy with my Thesis) my kitchen would still usually be quite clean.


3. I absolutely love to cook, bake you name it! I love it. I cook things I don't even like, just because others do and I enjoy cooking for others. I also want a meal when I eat dinner, so I will cook one, no matter the time of the day or night. I might be working until midnight, but I will still go home and cook a meal and eat it. That is, of course, if I haven't already eaten dinner.

4. I do not have a middle ear in one of my ears. I had 2 major surgeries 10 years ago where I had a tumor taken out of my ear. The tumor destroyed the bones in my middle ear, however, the great doctor made some type of reconstruction so that my hearing is better than it was before the surgeries. So if you ever see me turning my head one way or the other, it's to hear you better with my "good" ear.

5. I broke my arm when I was four. I hold on to the story that one of my brothers pushed me out of a truck we were playing in. After it was in a cast, that was up to just over the elbow, I wanted to run, so I got my arm turned around in the cast and straightened out my elbow to run. My parents found out, and I had to get another cast that went up much higher so that my arm was immobilized.

6. I HATE it when things are not cut or done in an orderly fashion. Mostly pertaining to food. For example take a cube of butter, it HAS to be cut at in a straight line, none of this crazy angled junk. A bowl full of a dessert or something, must be gotten into in an orderly and neat fashion. Turns out I'm a bit OCD about somethings...which I didn't realize till recently.

7. When I was really little..probably 4 or 5. I had a dream about a tornado, now you might think...oh this is how she got into meteorology.... NO, this tornado was a tiny little midget man who came out of the kitchen light in my house. He threatened to kill me and my family and I from then on until I was about 10 was terrified of the dark. Think about being that little and having your family threatened, scary! I've grown out of my scared of the dark phase, but I will always remember that dream.



Now I am to list 7 people to continue this blog, but I'm afraid I don't think I know 7 people that blog. I also know that some that do, have already been asked. So I will just list them.

Kristen
Haley
Elin--already been sent this
Laura--already been sent this
Nicole
Sarah
Emily

Much love all!

A new place to call home

Well it's been now almost 2 weeks for my job to be the center of my thoughts. It's all still pretty hard to believe. We went down to Wichita early last week, I went to about 6 apt. complexes, some extremely dumpy others really really nice! I mean one was crazy nice, and only about 1000 for a one bedroom! HA! I'm happy to be back in the plains where the cost of living is decreased! I did, however, find a nice 2 bed/2 bath apartment on the west side of town (where work is), that I LOVE! It has basically everything I wanted! 2bedrooms, walk-in closets, lots of kitchen space, washer/dryer hookups, and a storage place out on the deck. I'm excited to move in!

Because I'm somewhat picky and wanted an apt. toward the back of the complex, away from all of the road noise that accompanied the busy road it sat on. My apartment will be available the 14th of December. Now this could be a problem when I start work on the 10th. Hmmm....well one of the forecaster's has been in contact with me and early on offered to let me stay with her while I was looking. She is very sweet to extend such and offer and I think it will be fun to stay with her for a little bit before my apt. is free.

The rest of this week has remained busy with visits and shopping and cleaning and all of that fun stuff! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving this week, getting to see all of my family that I haven't seen since last Christmas! Will be very exciting! It's hard to believe it's been so long! Then after Thanksgiving I'm hoping to have some time to just chill with the family before I head off for the real world!

Much love

What a process

I've had a couple days to let it sit that I have gotten my dream job...and my attention span is getting shorter! It's weird, I'm so excited...yet it's hard to believe that my life is going to change big time. I'm going to be a working girl! Which is what I've wanted, nothing after work to do that will make me feel guilty for having fun. Earning real money! It will be so fantastic.

In the past few days I've needed to do somethings for a background check. It's been crazy! The funniest part is that I needed to go and be fingerprinted. I got the cards on wednesday around noon. I went down the the sheriff's office to the county jail around 3:45. I waited forever to be talked to. Then I finally got to talk to someone. They had to go ask, but yes, they charged 5 dollars to have fingerprints done. Well I didn't have any cash, so i went out to the car where my mom was, she had a 20 so i took that back in. Guess what? The jail won't break anything, so I had to go find change for a 20. I mean come on...it's a 20 for someone who hasn't broken the law! So I went to my aunt's place of business and she changed the money for me and I got to tell her my good news. So I head on back to the jail...it's 4:45 by this time. I get there and the lady says "we just started meals, so you'll have to wait till they are over". I'm like this is crazy, the only thing I could do by that point was laugh. So eventually I went back that night and got it done. The jail has a nifty fingerprinting machine...it's all computerized...last time I had my finger prints taken which was in kindergarten, it was all ink and paper! Overall the process isn't bad, just crazy experiences like that one!

What I have accomplished: looking for apartments, looking at uhaul rentals, booked a flight for graduation, and other stuff...Much still to do. I'm looking at apartments this upcoming week, I'm pretty excited about that! Yippee. I hope I can find something good...I hate searching online, you can make a dump look good online. Plus once you find one that you think looks like it's actually a winner, you go to apartment ratings and see all this bad stuff about it. I decided in raleigh that apartment ratings isn't always right...so I'll check it out in person. Good times! More about this process as it continues....!

Much love!

Kansas here I come!

Welll....I think I've called just about everyone that I can think of to call, so I can now post to my blog. I was offered a job on Monday! I'm way excited! It's with the National Weather Service in Wichita, Kansas!

I couldn't have asked for a better office to start in. I'm so excited to get a job with the NWS, and it being in Wichita, KS is just icing on the cake! I fully expected this process to take about 6 months and then be in the middle of tin-buck-two. But NO! This is a dream location for me!
-It's only 4 hours from home, which is the closest I've
lived to home since 2001.
-It's only 2.5 hours from my awesome friends in Norman.
-It's in a bigger city, so I don't have to loose my city things
-It's in the Plains!!! I've missed it so dearly when I was in the east coast
-The office is amazing, filled with amazing people! I'm excited to work with
I'm sure that's not it, but it's all I could come up with right now.

So far my start date is early December, so I'll be there for the Christmas Holiday, but because I'm so close to home I won't have any problem getting home to see the family when I do have off!

So basically I will be a new resident of Kansas. I can say that I never thought I'd be a resident of Kansas, but I'm happy to be. The next few months will be great fun and also some what nerve racking and scary I'm sure. I'm excited to go find another new place to live, as well as joining the "real" working world. It will be weird to not be in school, but I haven't been in school all semester and it hasn't been to bad....however, it just seems like summer break or something to me. I'm going to enjoy leaving work at work and not having any extra things to do when I get home.

So if you ever find yourself driving through Wichita, KS, be sure to give me a shout.

Much love!

Pictures

It's been 4 weeks since I've been back in the States, and I have yet to post some pictures...but a new hard drive and memory on my computer makes downloading pictures difficult. But I'm happy to say in the past few days I've downloaded over 2500 pictures of my 2 months away...of course they will not all be posted...not even close, probably not even a 10th.....but still I will get on to posting them soon. Keep a watch on facebook.

Love

Finally

Well it'd be a lie if I didn't say I've sat down and started to write this blog about 5 times or so...failing each and every time. But here I am. State side for more than 3 weeks now, it's time to talk about my final days in England and being back in the good ol' USA.

Leaving England was sad, but exciting too. I was sad to be leaving England, a place I love, and especially Reading as it feels like another home...but I was looking forward to getting back to my american things and being closer to not living out of a suitcase. I left on Thursday morning the 27th of Sept....now I've been through airport security my fair share...and even England's security on this trip a couple times, but this time was AWFUL!!! I bawled clear through security! Which made wanting to get home more of a dominant feeling! But after getting through and getting on the plane I settled in for a nice 8 hour flight back to Washington DC. I got to watch 3 different movies, Georgia Rules, The Astronaut Farmer, The Ex (Fast Track) I enjoyed Georgia Rules the best, but liked them all! I got into DC on time, got through immigration easily...with a HUGE smile and headed to the waiting area to board my small plane back to Raleigh about 5pm. Thanks to my dear friends Adam and Miranda I was not homeless in Raleigh.

Less than 24 hours after arriving into Raleigh, I boarded an Amtrak train back to Washington DC where I was meeting up with a dear dear old friend Amy! I was so excited and yes it was crazyz that I was continuing to travel when I got back to the States, but it was easy to keep doing it. It's been probably 4 years or so since I've seen Amy and probably only seen here less than 12 hours since 2000. Sad, but we both have our busy lives, her's...becoming a member of the foreign service. It was so awesome catching up with her! We definatly didn't have enough time, just about 38 hours or so, but it was so great!

I then spent a week in Raleigh, catching up with friends and working on converting my Thesis figures from color to black and white. I also had the unexpected problem of replacing my hard drive and memory in my laptop that week which took up a good bit of time!

The following weekend, I got to go see Emily and Michael and my Pumpkin. It'd been 9 weeks since I'd seen my kitty and was really worried that he would have forgotten me. Emily was a great "mommy" to him. He was scared of me at first, but after about 20 minutes of me talking and things he came out and let me pet him...he ran in to sleep with me that night too..I was very happy to see him. Of course happier to see Emily! Emily and I shopped and had fun...I miss my Emily nights!

I then headed back to Raleigh from Wilmington for a day and a half while I finished up my figures and said my goodbyes. I drove back down to Wilmington to get pumpkin tuesday night before leaving for Nebraska Wednesday morning. I just tell people I wanted to start at the coast and really drive half of the country.

I drove through Tennessee, stopping and staying with family friends. I drove through Kentucky to see Zach and Megan in Bowling Green where they work. Was good to see them both as well and get the grand tour. It was a nice place. I then drove that night to Columbia, Missouri. Friday I headed to Kearney arriving around 3:30 where I got some things put together and then we all headed to Kansas for a dinner for my Brother. I got to see my niece Brynn for the first time ever so that was great! We got home around midnight, I did some laundry and got to bed around 2 then got up at 5am to drive back to Lincoln for my very first Husker Game. I met my Brothers and did some tailgating. The game wasn't very good as the Huskers are kinda sucking this year, but I enjoyed it all the same. I didn't go because I thought they might win...I went because it's an experience! I had fun!

Then that saturday night I drove to Omaha where I helped Jenni celebrate her birthday...I tried to hold on as long as I could, but I went out and fell asleep in the car around 12:30am...while they stayed at the bar. I was so very tired! By Sunday night I was finally back into Kearney!! It was great to finally be home!!! I continued to live out of a suitcase, because we are redecorating the bedroom downstairs, but it's now done and I will soon have that as my own room!

I'm currently in Oklahoma, I arrived last night (wednesday) I will be here for about a week, little over...but then I should be back into Kearney for a while without much traveling! Well at least until December when I drive back to Raleigh for Graduation. Good times!

I LOVE traveling, but I'm ready to have a "home". I have gotten to see a lot of friends in the past few months though which has been GREAT! I still have some to see, so I'm guessing the traveling won't stop for good! That's my long jerilyn story for now.

Much love.

Reading to the End

Well it's hard to believe that my last week in England is almost up, but here we are. In the last week I've been to York, hung out with friends, been to a couple movies, and traveled back to Reading.

First off York was beautiful! I had such a good time there, although I was somewhat tired and hungry for the majority of the trip. I went to the York Minster which is a must if you make it to York. I then walked around the city before going to the York Castle Museum. Was good fun. On the way back on the train, I had a great time chatting with a family that lives in Missouri and was traveling around. It was nice to talk to some Americans. I finished off my week in Darwen with Liv, I had such a great time with her, we just chatted up the nights and caught up! I had so much fun with her.

Friday I headed to Reading, I was so excited to see both Claire and Victoria coming up the stairs at the train station! Friday the three of us had some dinner then met up with other Met students that were celebrating the submission of their Thesis. Good times! The weekend was also quite fun, slept in went to a BBQ, shopped...went to a free concert, and just hung out with friends.

Monday I had lunch with Ross Reynolds who was the organizer for the OU/Reading exchange on the Reading side...and then just walked around the University of Reading campus, brought back old memories. And like usual it didn't feel like I had been away for 4 years. It's insane!

I leave in the morning for the US, I'm excited to go home, but I'm not excited to leave England! Two different feelings...I'll be sad, but having my normal life things and not living out of a suit case will be nice...however I will still be living out of a suit case for another couple weeks or so. Miranda is picking me up from the airport in Raleigh, hopefully everything will be on time. Then Friday morning I will again head off on a train back to Washington DC. (I fly into there from England), where I will spend the weekend with my friend Amy. I'm looking forward to that, and it's hard to belive that being in DC for the weekend is just 48 hours away.

So next time I write I will be writing from the US! Hope I will be seeing some of my readers soon! Much love!!

South Wales and Manchester!

Well it's been a while again, but trust me it doesn't seem like it! My time is just flying by! I can't believe it's Wednesday tomorrow!!! Where is it going? Only one full week left for my travels, then 8 weeks will be over! Time has seemed to stop in my world, but I know when I reach home, I will quickly join in where time did not stop.

I've had an amazing week. I traveled on Friday to see Helen. She lives right by the Wales/England boarder, on the England side. So I headed from Birmingham to Chepstow (just over the boarder in Wales) to meet her. I had some time to kill so I went to Gloucester, and walked around the pretty city and went to the cathedral. That was good fun! The Cathedral was really nice, and even scenes from Harry Potter were filmed there! Tons of pics there! I finally met up with Helen around 5:30pm and we went to her home. Her mother had a Wonderful meal prepared, and we had dinner in the conservatory watching the sun set! It was so nice!!! That night we decided to just chill and talk and catch up while watching some tv.

Saturday we went into Chepstow, Wales and to the castle, which was intersting, one of the bigger ones I've seen, well it's ruins anyway, but it was fun. Then Helen took me along the Wye Valley to a couple wonderful scenic lookout points!!! We did some hiking and the wye valley is very pretty looking at it from above! We also went to Titern Abbey which was a nice place, we didn't pay to go in, but we saw it from the road...wow! We had some lunch along the river, got sunburnt and enjoyed catching up again. Sunday we had a nice relaxing day, we had some lunch, took a walk went to a movie and had dinner! The walk was really fun! I learned what I stiles were which is used to get across the fences along the public footpaths. They allow people to get over the fences that separate crops/grazing land. I also had a wild blackberry(I think that's what it was) Wasn't to bad, but I'm not a seed girl..and I could feel some seeds. For the movie we went to Atonement, which I had no idea what it was about. It was a good movie, I recommend it. I was confused a bit, but that was because I'm not british...I don't even know if it's out in america now. oh well!

Monday I left Helen, (sad) and headed toward Manchester to see Liv. I stopped off in Birmingham to kill some time and went to a free art museum. Well if you know me, then you know I'm not much of an art appreciator, but I walked along, looking at some things...killing the better part of an hour. I then thought about going to the canals, but decided I didn't want to lug all of my luggage down there and back up to the station. So I got some of my new favorite (well besides Elieens) cookies, and headed on board...oh I also bought the 6th Harry Potter which I was able to begin since I finished my 3 book of the trip. I met Liv in Preston, and we went back to her place, had some tea and then talked for ages.

Today I went into Manchester, a 45 min train ride away which isn't to bad. I really enjoyed Manchester, it's a nice city, especially near the new millenium area. I went to the Cathedral where I watched a school lunchtime music concert. Then onto the visitors museum about the cathedral. Their Town hall is also quite elaborate and beautiful! I got to walk around in that for a little bit. Then I headed off to the Science and Industry Museum. Now that is my kind of museum. I walked around only 1 of 5 buildings. I learned about the Science history near manchester (those who lived here who've contributed) and then went to the childrens hand on experiment center....well actually everyone in there was an adult, but it's geared for children. That was way fun! I got kicked out of there at closing and headed back to where Liv lives. We've had a great night talking and what not. I've taught her a little bit about meteorology...hurricanes and tornadoes and some basic weather things. I hope I didn't confuse her to much! I'm not a good dumb it down teacher.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to York, which I'm really excited about! I think it will be a gorgous city! I've heard great things about it, and my guide book speaks highly of it too! So that should be interesting. I think I might go to Liverpool on Thursday, then off to Reading on Friday. I get to see Victoria and Claire, very excited about that! It's been 2 years and it will be fun to see them!

Well I think that's about it from here! Miss you all!

Love

Exeter, Cadbury World and the like

It has been awhile since I've written, this I know..sorry! I think about it almost daily...but then when I get on the computer I go...eh, don't want to write that. So here we are, I'm about to write of my adventures for the past 10 days or so...bear with me.

I got back from Iceland on Wednesday the 5th, I made arrangements to stay with my friend Olivia that night. She wasn't free till she was off work, so I grabbed my stuff and headed into St. James Park where I continued reading Harry Potter for a couple hours, then I headed off to my hostel I'd stayed at and that had my other bag, and then off to the other side of London to where Olivia lived. That was a 2 hour plus journey, I eventually got there. We just chilled and watched some tv before repacking my stuff and heading to bed.

From London, I headed to Reading to drop off my 2nd bag with Claire and Chris until I get back to Reading. Then I headed into Exeter. I got to Exeter in the late afternoon, where James picked me up. He had to work that night, 12 hour forecasting shifts...LONG! if you ask me. I was more than happy to just sit and laze about that night, and so I did...watching tv and playing on the internet.

Friday I met up with Matt and we went down to two costal cities. They were quite beautiful. Big red cliffs that just drop into the sea. It was nice catching up with him, and seeing him. He was heading out to Italy the next day for the european severe storms conference...which my advisor is also at! That night I got to talk to my little one! A highlight, I also went out with some of james friends as he was working again that night.

The weekend was quite good, I went into the city of Exeter and went to the cathedral and then on a free city walking tour around the city wall, which is 90% still intact. It was quite a fun time. That night James, Ed and I got some chinese take away and then went to Exmouth to meet a whole group of people he works with. Was a good time, till the last train didn't run and the replacement bus service didn't advertise that it was replacing it and then it was very full!! So we had to get a taxi back to Exeter...wasn't to bad, 4 sharing for 24 pounds. Then we continued the night in Exeter getting home around 3am...Boy did I walk a lot that day! Probably 5-8 miles...not totally sure.

Sunday, James and I went to Dartmouth, which as a joke, but not really James tells me is at the mouth of the dart river. What' I've learned this time in England is that the english are not very creative...all of the names of cities and roads and what not are exactly what you think they are, or describing. We also went to Dartmouth castle which was good fun! Monday we went into Dartmoor National Park and hiked around Becky Falls and Hound Tor, all was great fun! We just about named Becky Falls, to James fell..but luckily he didn't fall in to much. It was nice being in Exeter with James, it is a cool city, I really liked the size and feel of it! It was good to see James and Matt as well, I'm glad I headed that way.

Tuesday this week I headed to Birmingham..where I went around the shopping center called the BullRing. Wednesday I went to Cadbury world which was really fun! I took a 15 min train ride to Bournville and walked to Cadbury world. I started out at the Essence of Cadbury where I learned how they made cadbury's dairy milk chocolate and then got to make my own chocolate concoction, which I used gummy button thins with liquid chocolate over top. Good fun! Then went into the museum and tour, which I learned how chocolate was descovered in the Mayan villiages and how it was brought to Europe. Then how it's made into the chocolate bars they have. I tried a Curly Wurly...which was good fun! I really enjoyed it and bought loads of cheap chocolate, which I'm not sure how I'm going to get home! Ahh! T hen I went to No Reservations wednesday night, which is a really good movie!

Today I went to Nottingham, and went to the Nottingham Castle where the sheriff of Nottingham use to live. It was fun and good to see nottingham. I also got to go in some of the numerous caves that are underneath the city. Amazing how many there are.

I've been spending a great deal of my time reading my books....before bed, on the train, in parks...whereever. I've just finished the 5th Harry Potter book, and will finish my other new book I bought (which I'm half through with) before buying the 6th Harry Potter. I don't know where I'm going to put all this stuff, as my bags are getting full...and I've still got 2 weeks left!

2 weeks from today I'll be home, and should be back in Raleigh at this time. However , turns out my travels won't quite be over, I'll have a stop over in Raleigh for a night, maybe two before I head up to DC to see a dear friend who I haven't seen in probably 3-4 years!!! I'm way excited about it! It will be crazy to continue traveling though, but I better keep with it while I'm going...if I stop I may collapse!

I'm heading to Gloucester tomorrow to view the city and then on to see another friend, Helen! I'm excited to see her and am excited as to what this weekend might bring. Then up to the north to see Liv on Sun night or monday. Don't know how long I'll stay there before heading out, maybe to Edinburgh..maybe not..we'll see. Still to be determined! I love living each day as it is!

I'm missing everyone, and eventhough I'm loving my travels, I'm looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Love

Greetings from the Land of Ice....wait, I mean Iceland!

I'm sitting here in Elin's house, enjoying the company of everyone, and watching Snorri run around through the living room. Needless to say, I'm having an amazing time in Iceland!

I arrived in Iceland on Saturday afternoon, I saw the first bit of rain I've seen all trip, well maybe not the first, but really the most rain I've seen. And if you think it's windy in the plains, then you need to think again!!! Iceland is very windy! It's great though! Elin picked me up from the airport with Snorri her son! cute and I mean CUTE!!! little guy! We went to a coffee shop, and then back to her place. That evening I got to see her on TV, and not only did I get to see her on tv, as the very wonderful weather girl, I got to see the whole news broadcast being taped!! I don't even get to see that in the states!!! It was awesome! Then we had some dinner at her place and went to Becoming Jane with her sister, mom and some other friends of theirs.

Sunday was good as well, Elin and I chilled around, chatted catching up and watching the hilarious Music and Lyrics!!!! I love that movie!!!! Then in the afternoon I got to go to a 2 year old's birthday party, and boy was that a treat!!! I really enjoyed the whole thing!!! All of the little children were so cute, and I really got to experience the culture, it's definatly better to be with a native than be a tourist the whole time! From singing happy birthday in Icelandic to the wonderful bread, it was a great experience! Later in the evening I got to go up to the pearl and see the sights around the city! The pearl is a high point over the city, I got to see all of the bay/ocean and mountains! Reykievik(spelling I know) is a beautiful city, surrounded by mountains! The landscape is not cluttered by trees, and ith true beauty is allowed to shine through, reminds me in a way of home...much different, but somewhat similiar.

One thing I find kinda funny is that the temperature is about 9-11 C which is about 50 F....so yea, I'm in a winter coat...I don't have any winter clothes really, other than a sweatshirt, but I've got my winter coat, and you better believe I'm using it...but everyone here, the natives are all walking around in crop pants, skirts...and light jackets. Shows how much of a wimp I am. And 50 isn't that bad! But when Raleigh hardly ever even got below that, it's hard to think it's not chilly.

Tomorrow's my last day and I can hardly believe it, it's flown by so fast! Then back to England, and almost 3 weeks left on my tour around the countries far away from the US! I am totally enjoying my time, but I do miss having my normal conviences...like my own food...living in a hostel isn't that great, my own bathroom, however it's been nice having Elin's wonderful real bathroom, and then of course a washing machine and dryer!! I'll be so happy to have those things again!

Next I'm heading on to Exeter to see James and Matt...should be good times!!!


Oh and a brief note about my ending time in London...I went to the British Museum, which I will go to again because I didn't have enough time to see it when I was there, then I met up with Olivia for dinner and went out after. Friday was a busy day, I went to Buckingham Palace, then met up with Duick in Greenwich. I stood on the 0 line, between the eastern and the western hemisphere! Twas cool! I got back to the hostel again late and packed up what I could for my early departure for the airport to head for Iceland.

Who know's what's in store after Exeter, or even in Exeter...but I'm looking forward to it, and wondering how I'll get everything that I want to done!!! One thing is for sure though, I miss everyone!

Love

The big ol' city of London

It's been a big couple days, but not because I've done anything really big...just because. It's nice to take my own pace, I'm able to sleep till 9am...get up for breakfast, get ready, go check e-mail and internet and then head out into the city. The first couple nights I was back at the hostel quite early, around 7 or so, but the last couple nights I've gotten back around 11-12. I'm in a room with all girls, and it's mostly new people each night, who are just there for one night before they head to the airport or a Topdeck tour around Europe, and at 11 they are all asleep, so that makes the getting ready for bed part quite challenging. Trying to be quiet while pulling bags and plastic bags that are noisy at the touch out of a locker. It's all good though. It's been nice to have a base place and move around in one place...as for the next while, i'll be moving more frequently...well i think. I've walked around Piccadilly Circus and Leistier Square(spelling I know!), then down to Trafalgar Square, and back up to Covent Garden. I've gone to Covent garden's a few times and killed time while watching the street performers. I've eaten lunch in chinatown twice, and went to the National Gallery. I've done a hell of a lot of walking, so my feet are starting to hurt earlier and earlier in the days. I'm wearing different shoes...each day, in hopes to wear different parts out, so the others feel better. Yesterday I walked around from Piccadilly Circus and Leistier Square up Regent Street and up and down Oxford Street, the shopping mecca. If I didn't know I was in London, I'd of thought I'd warped back to the 80's! Everyone, especially the younger girls are all 80's up, and all the clothes in the stores are very 80's...which makes it hard for me to shop, when I like very little of it! I walked around Oxford street with everyone else and their dog for 6 or so hours yesterday and bought one pair of ballet flats...as they are also all the rage, and everyone is wearing them...gotta try to be somewhat in fashion you know! HA! I had been told of a really cheap store, Primark...yea, and it took me almost 5 hours to find it, meanwhile I'd seen 6-8 H&M's *my favorite store*, 3 huge departments stores, 4 Clark's shoe stores *where I got my shoes* and multiples of just about every other store...and billions of people with Primark shopping bags, but no store. Turns out I walked the wrong way, then went back to the center and walked the other way, but it was clear on the other side of it! Crazy! Tuesday night was good, I got to meet up with Liv and Shireen, both I lived with in Wantage Hall in Reading. We all lived on the same floor, Shireen lived right across the hall, and Liv just down the hall. It was so nice to see them. We met at Liverpool street station, which looks on the tube map to me that it's in the NE side of the city, but NO! It's in the center of the financial district! Shireen worked and lived hear there, so she knew where to go and off we went to grab a drink then get dinner and catch up. I even had Dim Sum....A new experience, a good one, but new! It was really nice to see them, and hopefully i will see both of them again before I leave. I'm going to see Liv up north where she lives and Shireen is moving back to Reading, which is where I'll be in a few weeks. Last night after walking for 7 hours...I finally made it to the Apollo Victoria Theater to see Wicked! I got pretty decent priced tickets, in the back, but only £24...so that was ok with me! I had a clear view and didn't spend 80 dollars! Wicked is an awesome musical! The singer/actress that was the wicked witch was WONDERUFL! Her voice was so beautiful! A good night, I'm glad I went! Tonight I'm meeting up with Olivia in Covent Garden...and then we'll see what happens...since I don't know really anything around, I'm letting her plan something. Then tomorrow I'm going to Greenwich...home of Greenwich Mean Time...GMT, Z or whatever you want to call it. I'm going with a Met major that i knew in Reading. It shall be a good time! I'm looking forward to it. Then up much earlier, and off to Iceland on Saturday morning! I'm quite excited to see Elin and the lot! It will be so wonderful!!! So far the trip alone is going well! Today marks my being gone from Raleigh 4 weeks, I can't quite believe that! It seems like time's stopped, yet I know when looking and hearing from friends that it hasn't. Still 4 weeks to go and it seems like an eternity, again I know it will fly by! I'll be back to England in a week's time and then off to the south to begin my travels to see friends. Not sure what course that will take, but it will all work out! I'm sure! I best go, I hope all are well, wishing you all good starts to the school year if that's where you are, if not, I hope everyone has a great Labor day weekend! I miss everyone so much! Love

Back to London

I arrived back into London yesterday and am now alone to travel around for the next 5 and a half weeks. I'm spending the first 5 days in London, then I'm heading over to Iceland to see my wonderful friend Elin! I'm very excited to see her! And the not so new little one she has!

Ireland was absolutely wonderful. I mastered driving stick shift, and even driving on the other side of the road, even in rush hour traffic and on fairly steep hills! Can't say I want one when I get home, but I now have the skill of driving one which is nice. I drove around the Ring of Kerry in the southwest part of the island, and I even got to kiss the blarney stone! Kissing the blarney stone at Blarney Castle gives you the give of eloquence. Yea!

For the most part we stayed near Killarney the first 3 days, it was a nice area to be based out of and we had a wonderful B&B. We moved on to outside of Cork on Wednesday after visiting Blarney, we went to Kinsale which is on the very south, south of Cork..we took a harbour cruise tour, which was wonderful, of course, I forgot my camera in the car as we were in a rush to get to the departure point in time. It has some wonderful postcard views as I call them.

Then Thursday morning was not so great...I woke up feeling awful and I'll leave it up to your imagination..I was sick. I couldn't walk very far without being dizzy and nauseous. Luckily we got to another B&B near Waterford which is where we were going to stay and got some medicine and I slept most of the afternoon and evening. I felt better the next morning and we were back on our way. We went into Waterford and went to the Waterford Crystal Factory...it was really neat to see them make the crystal.

Leaving the Crystal factory we headed to south of Dublin where we stayed friday night. Saturday we flew out, no damages to the rental car and it was definitely brought back with an empty tank..which was requested, 33 km left to drive on the estimate gauge. We got back into London, made it to our hotel and this morning I took my parents to the airport and they should be home in a few hours. I'm back at the hostel in London and I've done my wash!!! (VERY EXCITING!) and now checking internet for cheap! I've missed it greatly! Who knows what's in store for this week...still to be determined!

I'll write about my other places on the cruise at some point. Miss you all.

Love.

I've reached Ireland

Well I know I haven't posted since Russia, and I will get back to the remaining countries and the cruise soon...but today I'm in Ireland!
We reached Ireland last night and much to my surprise...driving on the other side of the road in a manual car (which I have not really driven before) isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had a rough start, but we are getting the hang of it and it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Of course it's because of Adam's Wonderful driving lesson a few weeks ago. This would have been terrible without that! But it's going well, only a few hiccups.

Moving south from Shannon and Limerick to Killarney this afternoon...I will write more later, miss you all!

Love

Russia and Estonia!

Wow, is about all I can say for my time in the former USSR. Russia was just amazing! The buildings were so facinating...I can't say I want to live there, but a must to visit and experience if you ever have the chance!


Russia is full of a solid line of buildings, it's hard to describe...hopefully pictures when I have them will help explain, I comented that I couldn't see the city from our ship...I said it looked like a big wall, and that is basically what each street looks like. Very interesting. The palaces were amazing, exactly what I wanted to go see. And can you believe that I never had to get Russian roubles...everything can be paid for in US dollars...crazy!


Estonia is a mid-evil sort of town...I toured around the "old city" today..walking tour, was very nice. I saw so many interesting buildings...different from Russia, but you could see the presence of the former USSR. I found many souviners from Estonia...said I helped their economy. I can't wait until I can post pictures to show you, it's so hard to describe in words.


I'm loving every minute of this trip...and it's still so early! I hope you all are doing well and miss each and everyone of you!

Lots of Love!!

Quick message from the Baltic

Hello everyone, not much time as the internet is very expensive on board the ship! I miss my high speed, cheap internet!

I've been to Sweden, Germany (Berlin) and Finland thus far, it's all been amazing! Tomorrow we are docking in St. Petersburg, Russia for two days. The immigration is very tight, so not much I can do if I'm not on the tour. I'm hoping to get some neat souviners. Sweden was gorgous. In Germany we went to a concentration camp and then saw the sights around Berlin. I love Germany! Today we stopped off in Helsinki, Finland...again a beautiful country. Loads to tell...but not much time...I will write more when I get back to the UK.

The ship and cruise are amazing! The 5 star dinners and treatment we get is just amazing...I'm going to miss it when we leave. I can't believe it's almost half over! I've seen some wonderful shows...met some fun people, but with the tours, we are worn out! Sleeping is a minimum...which isn't so good!

Love to all....Till next time!




P.S. Love you my little one!!!

On Board and set sail

Hey from the north sea!
I made my way yesterday from London to Dover where I set sail on my cruise. The ship is just HUGE!!! I boarded and found my parents sleeping in the room...they had arrived a couple hours earlier and were jet lagged and very tired. After our Muster drill (like a fire drill) to practice getting off the ship in case of an emergency...we organized our small (but big for a ship) room. There is tons of storage, and we've got everything put away like we live there.

We had our first dinner last night with our table. 11 people at our small table...fun, all british except us. So that made for a fun night! We finished up dinner around 11pm and walked back stopping to listen to some music before heading back and to bed..still jet lagged (my parents).

Today we slept till 1pm...well we lost an hour, so it was really noon. Then got ready and went to lunch...and then to a presentation over the Baltic States...hard to understand the guy..he jumped around a lot.

Tonight is a formal dinner event, I will go get ready for it soon! Then who knows what...so much to do..so little time! Tomorrow we will arrive in Helsingborg, Sweden for a day of sightseeing! More about that later

Not much time on the expensive internet...so posts will remain somewhat short! Love to all and miss you!

Love

London

I arrived in London at 9:30pm last night, got through customs and got my luggage without any problem. I took the underground to my hostel which was quite an adventure with 3 rolling suitcases, being female in London at 11:30 at night. But it all worked out well. I put my big pieces of luggage into luggage storage, which was quite an ordeal...seeing as I had to carry my 3 pieces of luggage up and down stairs...not easy. Then it was SOOO hot...not hot when I stopped moving, but no air conditioning..they really don't need it, but I was sweating like none other! Got all my liquids that I couldn't have on the plane transferred over to my carry on, so that I had a small piece of luggage with me and found my room.

My hostel is pretty nice, the best I've stayed in. I'm in a dorm area with 6 beds, 5 other girls filled it up last night, but I believe any sex can stay in the rooms..not sure though. Talked with a few of them this morning, traveling around and are from Germany. I got up and ate breakfast...I was STARVING! Really no dinner last night. Then went back up and laid down for a little while longer. I didn't have any need to get going early. I've been to London many times, so the main touristy sights aren't as big a deal, especially when I'm coming back for a few days at the end of the month.

When I finally left, I hopped on the tube...tried to be Londonish...not touristy. Only having my purse and trying to know where I was going. Fun! I went into Victoria station, a national rail link. I want to get a young persons rail card which would save me 30% on travel, now I need to figure out a local address, since you have to list one...eeeh! Then I went and got a mobile phone. Went to the Orange store, picked out a phone...and on my way I went.

From there I walked down the street to Buckingham Palace.....I realized at this time..that maybe it would have been nice to grab a map..I didn't really know where I was, just had an idea from when I've been there before. I figured out where I was and headed to Big Ben and the Parliament. Oh while in St. James Park...I played with and set up my new phone. I hope I'm good to go! Then walked around, making my way around across the Thames and to Waterloo station, where I hopped back on the tube and am now back at my hostel.

Had a scare...thought my debit cards weren't working (my only way of money really), but I tried them both and should be good to go...talk about dangerous! AH

Tomorrow I head to Dover to board the Cruise. Hopefully I'll be able to find my parents without to much trouble...but who knows. Could be interesting..I'll have my 3 pieces of luggage yet again! Yuck! Oh well can't wait till they are not being used.

Much love to all...Missing everyone! Don't know when I'll blog next, but will as soon as I can!

Europe bound

I'm leaving very soon for the great world beyond our borders! It's been a busy week, but a big week! The last week consisted of packing, moving, all over rushing around, cleaning, sweating! finishing up my Thesis and hanging out with friends!

Sunday was a big day of moving! Tiring, Completely! The day started at 6am...with taking apart my bedroom set, and finishing up everything else so that when Zach came to get me, I was ready for the move. I was actually quite happy, because for once in my life I was actually ready, having everything packed. Zach came to get me and we got a bigger Uhaul truck for 10 dollars less!! YEA! Very good! Then my move took a total of 5 hours, which was pretty good. Then off to Zach, Rick's and Billy's where we continued to move. It was a long and very tiring day, but I was glad to have it done.

This week has been full. Cleaning, trip planning, ect. I finalized and uploaded the final version of my Thesis on Tuesday just before Lunch! Then a celebratory/goodbye lunch with Yuter. Then cleaning before a BBQ at the Parkers! A fun night! I even got to play the Wii! Good times!

Today was again busy, errands to finalize for the trip. Lunch with the Jordan hall group, and then dinner and drinks before I leave! Everyone's leaving while I'm gone, so Raleigh won't be the same when I get back. Adam and Miranda will still be here though, so I will get to see them!

So in the next 5 hours, I need to finish packing and do some stuff before heading off into the great unknown of life for the next 8 weeks. I will be blogging as much as possible during my trip. Check back for updates! Miss everyone already!

Love!

Busy times...but trip is soon!

I am one week from leaving for my long trip! A week from right now, I will have just departed from Washington D.C for the great land over the Atlantic. I have plenty plenty to do until then though!

My Thesis is just about done, I have all of the big and small edits done, so just some other little checks and then I can submit the final version. I want it done before I head out. In addition to my thesis I'm trying to pack up my apartment, continue to plan things for the trip...all parts, and work on a job application for the NWS. I've gotten a lot of my things on my list done...but still more.

The big one is packing...I have 3 days to get the rest of my apartment packed up. Wish me good packing, I HATE packing!

Well not much else to report, I guess, just busy! Lots of love from here,

Traveling to England.....Help??!!

Hey everyone,

I'm traveling to England soon, and I'm looking for possible help. With the might pound crushing the dollar, it would really help me out financially if I had help with places to stay while I was traveling. If you or anyone you know would be willing to host a traveler (even a nice stranger) in August or September, anywhere in the UK...let me know.


I will be in London August 2-3rd and would love for a place to stay those nights, then I will be traveling between August 26th and September 26th.

the short of it...

London- August 2-3rd...
Anywhere -August 26th-September 26th.


Any help at all would be appreciated, but I understand it there is an inconvience or other plans or simply not possible..



Much Love!!!!

Master of Science!

Yes, yes I am a Master of Science! Well I've at least completed all things for my master's in Science! The presentation minus a slight intermission when the projector overheated went really well. Then the defense portion also went quite well. I got a few questions, most or all of which I could answer to some degree. I got a pass from all 3 committee members, and minus some slight revisions and edits....I'm done with my Master's degree.
I can't quite believe that I'm done...it's kinda like now...what do I do? I've got the revisions...but I also know that my time at NCSU is almost over...it's very strange. So I've got less than 3 weeks to finish packing up my place, finish up all revisions and turn in my Thesis. Move all of my belongings and head to the wonderful world that extends beyond this country's borders! Hopefully more time to blog now that the stress is mostly over!

Love!

Kinda done!

Well around 2:45 I promptly gave Dr. Yuter a copy of my Thesis. And at 3:15 the color printer broke when trying to print the last 2 copies needed for my committee members. But all is good, we'll figure it all out tomorrow! It's been a long time in the making and I'm glad to have it to this point. I'm not working hard till monday again!! Which means sleeping in(some) and hanging out with friends! All good times! Plus some tv watching, you don't know how much I have to catch up on! Seriously folks!

Tonight was fun, went to Five star with Morgan and Zach, then to the flying saucer for Casey's going away party...tear. A good day all around!

Love

M.S. Oral Exam

Evolution and Maintenance of the 22-23 June 2003 Nocturnal Convection during BAMEX



by J. Billings



M.S. Graduate Student
Atmospheric Science


on Thursday, July 12, 2007


10:00 AM


1132 Jordan Hall

What do you do?

So what do you do when you've finished Thesis Draft #1 and you're not at work at 11:50pm? And it happens to be 10 mintues before you turn a quarter century? Well you blog that's what you do!

I actually have time to do things, I've only been free for just over 12 hours, but it feels like I've been free forever! After working about 80 some hours last week and yesterday and this morning, on top of the previous month, I've finally got my goal accomplished, well part of it. It's been crazy!

I am enjoying my free time, I've actually done real things, still only been home for 2.5 hours so far, but I did fun things. I went to Target and got a new alarm clock, then went up to southpoint and shopped! I spent way to much money, but hadn't done it in a while, so enjoyed it! Scored my favorite jeans for $10 a pair! AWESOME! I got home, made dinner, cleaned, organized and here I am. Very exciting. That's my quote of the day...everything's "very exciting"!

Went to a party last weekend, twas great fun! Zach defended on monday! and then some socializing that night! So I haven't been totally killing myself, just kinda! This week is busy and fun! Defenses, trips to watch weather balloon launches, finishing theses, Emily and I's birthdays! Ocean's 13, and many other things! A great start to the best month of the year!

Well that's my life update! Lots of love from my end of the country!

My busy times

I apologize for being so delinquent in my blogging. I've thought about it many a time in the past 3 weeks, but when I have the time to do it, I don't want to. Similar to my inability to call people when I'm free. When I get so busy that I'm at school, or work for 10-12 + hours a day, I tend to want to just unwind at home watching some of my TV. And that my friends is why I don't blog, or call you or whatever, I'm sorry :-(.

I've worked diligently on my Thesis for the last couple weeks, I've been working hard on it for quite a while, but it was a month ago that I learned that I had to have a "good" rough draft into my advisor by the 1st of June. So I'm working my ass off to get that accomplished! I've worked every day since the first of May some days are longer than others. I make sure to keep Thursday nights as girls night, and I go sleep in a tad on the weekends, but other than that it's worky worky worky for me.

I'm slowly but surely going to get this thing finished and June 1st will be it. I have a bit more to do on the chapter I'm working on then just one more results chapter. That one shouldn't be to hard, then it's the smaller things like the intro and conclusions. NC State requires a biography as well, so I'll be doing that and acknowledgments and dedication. Still planning on defending late June early July. Right now I'm on track to get the writing done, but the defense itself scares the shit out of me! I was hoping to be in the middle of the pack of 5 of us in the two groups (Dr. Yuter's and Dr. Parker's) that defended, but no, looks like I will be first, paving the way for the others. I don't do well presenting in front of others, and I'm scared to death of the behind closed doors section. I'm just praying for minor revisions and a quick end to it once its over. Then on to a Journal article.

Moving will also be a big event of the summer. I think it's been decided for a while that I will be moving back home once I get back from England. It seems to be the most practical solution, save money on living. I won't have much money anyway after England, and not having the majority of bills will be a godsent! The question now is do I put it in storage for a couple months while I'm gone, and move it home, or put it in storage and leave it in storage in Raleigh. At the moment I'm leaning toward taking it with me. We'll see, still time to figure that out.

I also think I will move into the basement when I move home. I will miss my bedroom, that isn't really mine anymore, but the basement is setup like a mini apartment with a microwave and fridge own bathroom, living area and bedroom...could be nice for pumpkin and I to have our own place. Plus it would be good because I tend to leave my bedroom and bathroom quite a mess, and this way my parents wouldn't have to deal with my messiness. I'm not really that messy, but I don't like to put away my bathroom stuff when I'm going to use it again tomorrow. I think it would be kinda nice to kinda have my own place while living at home.

It will be very weird to be living at home again, and not for only a couple weeks. BUT I do look forward to it, I don't necessarily want to find a job (career job) right away. I want a break between real job and school. Europe is a break, but I also want to be with my family, and take time and go see friends in Norman, Lincoln and Omaha. I won't ever have this opportunity again and want to take full advantage of it! Family and Friends are the most important things to me, and I want to take the time I actually have and use it to the fullest extent! It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity at this point in my life.

As for being close to finishing up and not close to finishing up in the time allotted, I'm not that stressed, at least not yet, but I don't see it happening. I'll be busy working my ass off, but not stressed. I'm just slowly chugging through it all, doing what I can. The final week will be the biggie. I also don't wish I was already on my trip. Getting a master's degree has been a goal of mine for a very long time and it is more important than the trip, so I'm not that anxious to get it over with either. I want to savor every last busy, scary, hectic, happy, sad, humorous moment! Once I've defended and August approaches I will be ready for my trip, but until then.....

And I have to learn how to drive stick shift for renting a car in Ireland! That will be a treat! Adam's said he'll help me with his manual car. I've driven it before and know the basics, but I was 15 and only drove it a couple times. The hardest part was getting from stopped to going and then 1 to 2...after that it was pretty easy. IT should be fun, then I will have to put it all in action and drive on the other side of the road. This will be an adventure, don't say I'm not daring!

Well I've guess you've read more than you ever wanted to know! I'll try to do this more often. Hope all is well, and I wish you all the best May! Even if I'm way late in getting to it!

Love