The pieces are falling into place

• Today I went to my new work to fill out some paperwork and pick up my handbooks and quality control manual. This is going to be great. I am really looking forward to starting my new job on May 10th.

This weekend I also have my research presentation. The last of the things I have on my list for college. Now all I have to do is walk during the graduation ceremony.

As for the housing situation I have been stressing over finding an affordable one bedroom unit. After countless hours online and touring almost every complex in Davis I have decided it is just way to overpriced and not worth it. Its about $1000 per month for a piece of crap old one bedroom without washer dryers. If you want to go lower than this you are at risk for having no garbage disposal or central heating and air. Not to mention how old the complexes are. So yesterday after talking to a coworker I decided I was going to check out Natomas.

So today I made the 20 minute venture outside of Davis and to my surprise I stumbled across an affordable resort of a complex. This place was a dream come true. Everything I would ever want an all within my price range.

Amenities include:

• covered parking
• pool and spa
• business center
• game room with kitchen, fireplace, flatscreen tv, pool table, poker table
• 2 fitness centers one is 24hrs
• fully furnished guest suite
• gas BBQ grills
• full size washer/dryer units
• walk in closet
• ceiling fans
• dishwasher
• fireplace
• tan walls with options to paint accent walls
• 9ft ceilings with crown moldings
• patio/balcony
• double-pane windows
• nice carpet

basically amazing and in a great location across from a golf course, with bike and running trails

close to great shopping and restaurants

close to ARCO arena.

I am in love. Can't wait till August 1st.

Now I get to go furniture shopping and decorate!

Ahh post-college life is looking sooo good!

A little too soon!

So today as I was getting ready to get on the bus to go home I received the phone call I have been waiting for all week. I had been staring at my email all week hoping to hear back from the company I had interviewed with. Still friday had come and gone and no word. Then when I had given up all hope and was ready to close the door I received the phone call to inform me that I was offered the position. I could not speak. I was so overwhelmed at the time that nothing really came out of my mouth. Good thing they had already decided to hire me because I sounded dumb. Anyways needless to say I am now a real adult with a full time job. I can now plan life in Davis, I can join the cycling club, join a gym and hunt for a place to live. Life is coming together one step at a time and this was the missing piece to my puzzle. Thank you Lord.

Waiting

I am a planner. I like to plan my days, weeks and just life. Currently since I am in this middle situation I can't plan. It is the most frustrating experience. I do not know whether I am going to have a job or money to get by each week. I sure as heck do not know if I am going to hear back from the countless companies I have applied to, nor where the heck I am going to be living come August 1st. Everyday I anticipate hearing back from the company I have had two interviews with, it has been two weeks since the interview and still no response. I am so frustrated with this waiting around thing. Why can't I just know what life is going to bring. I think the most frustrating situation is Derrick. We both don't know where we are going to be after Davis. I can't plan, I can't anticipate I don't know anything but the here and now. Are we going to call it quits? Or are we going to try a distance thing? Is it really all worth it?

The frustration never ends.

Picnic Day!

Yesterday was the annual UCD Picnic Day. The day couldn't have been more beautiful. It was in the mid 70's and sunny. My day began at 9:30am with a pancake breakfast and mimosa's at Renea's. Then Starbuck's for much needed caffeine. Off to campus to tie dye some t-shirts. The micro club, waiting in line forever to see the snakes and reptiles. Then party at Primero Grove. Then to visit Tawny and meet her family and new boyfriend Kevin (a.k.a. Mr. Amazing) for battle of the bands at Spafford Lake. Then food, nap and back downtown for wiki's with Kevin and Tawny. Then dinner at Dos followed by returning home to meet up with Renee and Elise and ending the evening at Little Prague. I finally called it a night around 12:45 and boy was it by far the best picnic day. No large groups, no obligations, plans or too much waiting in lines. It was great getting to relax and enjoy the day without the stress of having an upcoming exam to worry about. I am really getting used to this no school thing.

On top of that I had a wonderful visit with Elise. She really has changed since Davis. The three of us (Renee, Elise and I) were able to really have a great time catching up with life and talking about boys. It was like old times back in Sophomore year when we were great friends before all the drama of living together. Some friendships really are better from a distance with time. I am now looking forward to mending my friendship with Elise and visiting her sometime in San Francisco.

Overall good weekend. This morning I made a killer breakfast with fresh strawberries from Lodi, scrambled eggs from my grandmas, french toast and most importantly coffee. Now I am relaxing after cleaning up the apartment and going to go on a nice long run later.

And just a little trivia can anyone guess what buildings are shown in this picture of the old picnic day?

Until later...

Spring

Oh what a beautiful day it was in D town. I must say spring is my favorite season here. The temperature for the most part is perfect in April, not too hot and not too cold. Sunshine with a few clouds here and there complemented with a slight breeze. Today I took advantage of the beautiful weather and ventured downtown for lunch at one of my favorite places, Crepeville. If that pleasant walk wasn't enough I decided to walk home from lab instead of wait around for the bus. It was quite relaxing, just me and my ipod meandering through downtown. I hadn't spent that much time in the neighborhoods around the East end of downtown. I must say there are some cute old homes mixed in amongst the random apartments now that I think about it I saw one for sale that was adorable, I wonder if it belongs to the Dodds?

Lately I have also been trying to mix up my exercise routine now that I no longer am a member of the Arc. I have been doing yoga and pilates DVD exercises thanks to Renee. I know its silly but at least its something. So needless to say I went on google maps and calculated my walking distance for the day and in total it was 3.6 miles! Yay, now I technically don't need to go for a run later.

Anyways time for more season 3 of Battlestar Galactica..

Would you rather....

Ok so daily I have been online searching for jobs and after countless hours of hunting, applying and cover letter revision I am sick of it, completely.

So I have compiled a list of 10 horrible and disgusting things with the help of my roommates I would rather do than job hunt. So here it goes.

1) Eat worms. Like fresh from a rotten pile of dirt worms.
2) Smell 10 pairs of gross stinky feet.
3) Eat belly button fuzz.
4) Puke 5 times in a row.
5) Squish poop between my fingers.
6) Walking underneath the olive trees on campus to only get crapped on by the stupid birds.
7) Stand underneath a bat cave.
8) Chew off someone else's fingernail
9) Drop my phone in a toilet and have to fish it out with my own hand.
10) Lick a banana slug.

A whole lot of nothing

To all those out in the blogosphere, I Brystal am bored. Currently I am spending my days doing a whole lot of nothing. I spend hours watching tv, Battlestar Galactica, surfing the web, applying for jobs and hanging around. It has been nice most of the time, then those moments of utter boredom sometimes creep up and I start to worry about what the heck is going to happen August first when I have to move who knows where, with possibly no job, no money for rent and no clue as to what will happen. This post-grad lifestyle can sometimes be so frustrating because I can't really make plans too far in advance. But I guess I am living life literally by the seat of my pants.

Thankfully I am blessed to still have the opportunity to work in the lab when I feel like it, have still been tutoring and babysitting here and there. It gives me a little cash for coffee and going out to the bars.

Oh and I had a secondary interview with a company. They began with praising me about how wonderful my resume was and how impressed they were with me. I should hear back within the next two weeks as to whether or not they will offer me the position. I am trying to not be too hopeful but really wish this would come through. So far it is the only company I have heard back from. Until then I will continue to hunt.

That's all for now!