If I had a yard, I’d have a dog by now
26. September 2009
Rachel
It’s strange for me to say that I’ve been living permanently out in Washington for only three months now; feels more like three years! It’s possible that I feel as though I’m picking up where I left off over a year ago. Nothing has changed all that much, which makes me think I never really left to begin with. The exceptions being, I’m a college graduate and I have a full time position at Microsoft. I registered my car and applied for a new driver’s license, so I’m finally beginning to feel more at home. Of course, I miss my real home. I came out here with the assumption that I would never, under any circumstances, move back east. I planned on living on the west coast for a while, at least 5+ years. A month after getting here, I realized moving back might be sooner than later. I miss my family, my friends, and of course my boyfriend. Part of me was so eager to get out here, mostly because I hated living at home. My mom and I butt heads over the little things when we’re under the same roof. Our personalities are quite different and I think sometimes we don’t know how to handle each other. With all that aside, I wish I could hop in my car and head over for dinner whenever I wanted. There was something really comforting about having a 200 mile buffer zone from my parents while at school, but knowing they were only a bus ride away. For right now, phone calls and occasional visits home will have to do.
Ideally, I’d like to continue with the APEX program over the next year and a half and then explore opportunities on the east coast with Microsoft. I don’t want to get caught up in my relationship and have that affect if and how quickly I move back to the east coast. If anything, I’m trying to look at this as a good opportunity to evaluate how we handle being apart and how we interact when we’re together. Since nothing ever seems to work out as I plan it, I’m not going to set any definites for myself. I’m sort of on cruise control at the moment, trying to figure out what works best for me. I’m hoping that by next September, I will have a good understanding of where I would like to continue moving towards. I think giving myself at least a year to mull things over is the best way to go. I want to be sure that I’m making g0od decisions for myself now and for the future.
Cathy and Kevin were married last weekend back in Connecticut. I’ve never been to a wedding before, so this one already sets the bar pretty high. The church ceremony was beautiful! (Nice job Dad) and the reception was a blast. Now they are off honeymooning while I try to bring their strawberry plant back to life during my house sitting hours hehehe.
I’ve been increasing my training intensity for my show in April. I know it seems so far away, but if I don’t start giving it my all now, I’ll never get to where I want to be by then. Josh went over my diet with me and basically said I was eating like a bird. He’s right and it explains why I was always hungry all the time and why the scale wasn’t budging – that was both good and bad: I didn’t want to put on weight, but I was also frustrated that I wasn’t losing any. My poor diet has a lot to do with why my frame hasn’t changed much in the last year. Now, I’m probably consuming 2300-2500 calories (1600-1800 previously) and I feel SO much better. I can tell my body is responding too AND I’m sleeping better. I’ve put on about 4lbs. since the beginning of the month, maybe one or two of that is water weight. I’m going to stop fussing over the scale and just focus on working hard.
My apartment is finally coming together. I bought a new couch and small computer desk about a month ago. It’s good to have something to sit on, other than the floor. The only thing missing is my Doberman. Josh tells me that if I move home, we can get one. What a tease. He should know that bribing me with a black and brown puppy will send me packing back east in no time! I found the cutest rescue Dobe in Seattle and I want her. If I had a yard and more time for a dog, she’d be mine by now
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Another chapter comes to an end
10. June 2009
Rachel
I’ve been a college graduate for barely two months now. I’m still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that there will be no college classes come this fall. I have mixed feelings about this. I miss Boston so much already and I miss the people who are there without me. Reflecting back now, I realize the first two years weren’t the most rewarding. I got caught up in making friends and extending my weekends past Sunday. I don’t know how to explain this other than by saying that I had no idea who I was. I was having identity issues and I had no idea what I wanted out of life. But…
Something clicked during Summer II classes of my sophomore year. To this day I’m more than confident that it was my MIS professor who really shaped me into what I am today. It was the first class of my college career that I took which actually related to my major. He saw potential in me. It was different knowing someone other than my parents knew I could excel and become great in my field of study. I worked so hard that summer and after the first few weeks, that determination overflowed into my other class.
I had the same professor again for my senior MIS class, which was an awesome way to end my year. We bumped into each other in the bookstore right after finals and he told me how great of an improvement he saw in my work compared to three years prior. Professor Russell, if you happen to ever run across my blog, I want to thank you for everything you have ever done for me.
Another chapter of my life has come to an end. I’m grateful, happy, and scared about what comes next. I’m sitting in limbo waiting for my departure to Seattle, WA for good…well, at least for the next two years. I’m leaving behind friends and family, who I will miss so much. I’m excited to start work and become financially stable haha. I’m still trying to find an apartment. I can’t figure out if I want to be near Seattle or the Eastside. I’m hoping the apartments I look at will make the decision for me. Regardless of where it’s located, if I love it, I’ll move there.
More to come
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24. November 2008
Rachel
I’m not in much of a writing mood, but work is slow and the projects/reports I’ve been working on for the past few weeks are making my head hurt.
I can’t stop thinking about graduating and moving to Washington. I hope the grass is greener on the other side. I don’t want to build up all this excitement only to decide a few months later that I don’t really like it there. I can’t imagine that’s how it will all play out, but I tend to run multiple scenarios through my head at once, which I really need to stop doing. The fall semester is almost finished. I’m technically done after next week, with the exception of one class the following Monday. I could skip it, but I won’t.
It’s nice to see my health in good order. I haven’t needed to miss a class or call out of work. I’ve been relatively happy for the most part but school is stressing me out. I could cruise through the next semester with C’s just to pass, but I won’t haha. I love how I tell myself I’m going to slack off and take it easy but I never end up doing that. I don’t want to see myself repeating bad habits from freshman and sophomore year.
I need to give my doctor a call this week to talk about going off my medication. Hopefully this time I can actually convince him that it’s worth a try. I feel like everyone, doctors and patients alike, rely so heavily on conventional drugs and aren’t willing to explore other options. I recently purchased Self Healing Colitis & Crohns by David Klein so I’m waiting for that to come in. At this point I’m willing to do anything to go off medication and keep myself in remission the natural way. I’ll post more about this once I begin reading.
Thanksgiving is only a few days away. I’m more than ready to get away from school for a while!
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It is what it is
23. September 2008
Rachel
Career – Yes. One word…Microsoft
School - Almost. Technically I’m still in the process of graduating and classes are not interesting me at the moment
Relationship – No? Can’t seem to get this one right =P
Temporary Job – Yes. Help Desk Supervisor – Easiet job that let’s me be around computers AND is on campus, enough said.
Three out of the four isn’t bad and overall I’m pretty happy with how things are going. I’d like to make sure my butt stays in gear so I can graduate in April. I’m trying to remove uneeded stress that has been filtering into my path on a weekly basis. I need to stop thinking so much and formulating all these “What-ifs”. I’m wasting energy and time for nothing, really. I’ve been letting my diet and exercise regime slip a little over the past month too. That does NOT make me happy. I know it has a lot to do with being distracted while I’m in the weight room. As a result, my workouts are less productive. I shouldn’t be skimping on the one thing that always makes me happy. Now I have the sudden urge to go lift.
I have a lot to figure out; I wish it were easy to make a quick decision and stick with it. (This is where I implement the SWOT analysis!) I know I need to do what’s in my best interest and what will ultimately make me happy…so I think it’s safe to say, I need to get myself out of this one. Things happen, or don’t happen, for a reason…but they also should not progress in a way that leaves me feeling confused and questioning everything. I’m going to take a wild guess that this situation probably falls under the “sorry, you lose” category haha. Slipping out while I’m ahead could appear as though I’m giving up or not willing to try but that’s not the case. I’m losing ground quickly. It is what it is =/
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You know your last day is slightly more epic when…
4. July 2008
Rachel
…it’s also Bill Gates’ last day.
People keep asking me “isn’t this a bittersweet moment for you?” Well, first of all, I usually associate bittersweet with chocolate, particularly chocolate chips for cookies. I suppose it is a great to have completed my third internship with, by the way, an FTE offer already on the table for next June =) BUT I don’t want to leave. I keep thinking “Shit, I really have to leave Monday morning.” I can’t extend my time out here, unless I feel like paying for my flight home, which I don’t. Tomorrow will be exactly one year until my start date. I haven’t accepted the offer yet though. I still have some thinking to do.
I miss Ben who I haven’t seen since November. We haven’t talked that much since I’ve been gone; mostly because of his girlfriend. I think she feels threatened by me, which is a shame, because it’s heavily impacted my friendship with Ben. He’d do just about anything for her, even if it meant sacrificing our friendship. First of all, no significant other should give that type of ultimatum. I’ve faced similar situations with the best girl friend of a guy I was dating, but I’ve never made him chose between a friend or me; it’s not fair, and it’s selfish. It’s legitimate to express concerns about the friendship, but not to say, “Either it’s her or me”.
On another note, Mike and I decided that we really never like ‘Lil Jon’s food. What it really comes down to is the great times we’ve had there. We went there last weekend, Mike ordered the Taco omelet, I the #2 special minus the toast, plus one extra scrambled egg. We went to pick up his car at Nate’s maybe 45 minutes later… breakfast was not sitting well for either of us. I think we’ll stick to the memories we had there, instead of the food.
Anyway, I started this post a few days ago, which means I’m home now. I’ll do a quick update on how my final days in Washington went:
I did my final presentation to my team and a few other people (including my coach and my sister!!). I think I nailed it. I was nervous at first, but once I got going, I was able to crank out my topics without needing to refer to my slides a whole heck of a lot. I met with my manager the next day and received a recommendation for hire for a full time position with the company! Yes, exciting, but it really doesn’t mean anything. Since I would be joining the APEX program, I had to get the go-ahead from them first before I would see any type of job offer. Pretty much everyone I talked to told me I had nothing to worry about, and ultimately they were right. I met with HR last Thursday and received an AMAZING offer. I wish I could go into details, but it’s confidential, at least for now (I think haha). I haven’t accepted the offer yet. I pretty sure that I will, but I want to at least think things through first. I’m still a little in awe at how quickly all of this was happening. I wasn’t expecting to hear back about jobs until early fall. Now, I can go through my senior year knowing I have a fantastic job waiting for me in a fantastic location. I’m really looking forward to moving back West, but for now I’m trying to enjoy home and Boston as much as possible!
I miss my house, I miss my roommates, and I miss my friends. I can’t believe I second-guessed my decision to move out to Washington. It was one of the best experiences of my life, at times a little shakey, but I don’t regret my decision whatsoever. I made some of the best friendships and what’s good to know is we all expect to continue where we left off either back in Boston or, when we’re all finally back in Washington full-time. AHH, I’m so excited!
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Two more weeks, and counting
16. June 2008
Rachel
An interesting recollection brought a smile to my face earlier this morning.
This time last year, I was out in Seattle visiting Cathy. We went to the same beer festival then that we are going to today. I remember most of the day was spent indulging in great beer and dreaming of intern possibilities at Microsoft. I told Cathy “You just wait, I’ll be back here next year…and life will be good.” Well, here I am.
So I’ll say it one more time…You just wait, I’ll be back.
Great, it’s settled, I will be back, only this time as an FTE, with medical benefits (which we all know I need based on my medicine cabinet haha). As a side note, I’m ready to take the plunge and go off of the Azasan. I made an appointment with the GI specialiast that I first saw two years ago when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s. I keep reading online and hearing from other doctor’s that this is a bad idea, but being on a medicine that can cause cancer isn’t a great idea either. I think I have been in remission long enough to explore other options that will keep me flare-up free.
Two more weeks to go before I ship off to Bristol. I fly Alaska on the 30th of June; 8:50AM departure. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing.
I wish I didn’t have to leave, at least not yet.
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I Will Miss You, ‘Lil Jon
9. June 2008
Rachel
I will miss you Red Robin, Jack in the Box, Taco Time and every other fast food restaurant I never ate at but enjoyed driving by every morning on my way to work…Ok, I ate at Red Robin once, when I first moved here. Above all, I’ll miss ‘Lil Jon’s, my favorite family owned breakfast joint that my favorite men (my roommates) and I frequented on weekends. I’ll miss the eggs & hash browns (smothered in hot sauce) and all-the-toast-you-can-eat special. When all I need is an unrestricted breakfast, loaded with unnecessary calories, this is my go-to meal. It’s worth every five of my dollars and 95 cents of my change.
I know I’ll be back here eventually, probably not far from my first Bellevue home, where it all started, but 12 months seems like a life time, especially since I’m leaving behind a lot more than my preferred west coast restaurants. I still have three weeks left, but already I’m anticipating what it’s going to feel like when I finally have to say goodbye. I just don’t want a few things in particular to be heavily impacted by my absence. I guess won’t know how things will turn out, until they do. I want to make a few trips back out here during the school year, but now that I have invested in a second concentration, the chances of that have decreased considerably. Anyway, enough of this sad talk.
I’m looking forward to the summer back east. The weather has been less than desirable here. Temperatures have been hovering in the upper 50’s to lower 60’s with cloudy/rainy skies. We had a bought of gorgeous weather, which must have been a freak accident. I’ll finally have more time to practice yoga. I’d like to eventually invest in becoming a teacher. Vidal told me that becoming a yoga teacher requires more than polished poses; I first have to conquer inner conflict and find peace. He’s right. Anyone can take a three month long course to become a certified teacher, but it takes decades of practice and patience for a true yogi to emerge. I think I found my calling, haha.
I lost my train of thought…the neighbor’s dog is outside, barking, again. See Below:[singlepic=7,320,240,,left]
He has a loud and annoying bark for such a small, pudgy dog.
I’m not ready to leave yet. And to think, back in December I was worried I would become homesick, hate my job, and despise everything about the state of Washington.
This time, next year, I’ll make a point to re-read this post. Hopefully everything will have neatly fallen into place and I’ll be back here picking up right where I left off <3
Tentative Agenda:
Home – June 30, 2008
Boston – September 2008 – May 2009
Home – May 2009 – July 2009
Back to Washington! – July 2009
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Bring ‘em out
8. April 2008
Rachel
Motion-controlled remote for the Xbox? Yes, please!
Oh, I would say it’s about time. I drooled over PS3 and the Wii when they released their first motion-controlled controllers in 2006. To tell you the truth, I was a little surprised to not see Microsoft trailing close, if not right next, PS and Nintendo. I’m sure they have a good reason for the year(plus) competition gap; something is in the works, I can smell it. According to the article the Xbox controller is “designed to do all the Wii remote does, and more.” I’m curious to see what the “…and more” encompasses. I mentioned to my manager a while back that I was interested in the Xbox team. Exactly what I would be interested in doing, I’m not really sure. Regardless, I’d still like to see what opportunities are available.
The Wii is definitely a different gaming experience than the Xbox; I think that’s why I’ve enjoyed playing it. It’s the only console we have in the house as of right now. If I didn’t know any better, I would think we host nightly golf tournaments in the living room. I can hear Aviad’s shouts of disgust after completing a horrible swing…there goes the golf ball, into the lake. Our quote-wall has now turned into a scoreboard, cluttered with the latest Wii Sports standings. Unfortunately, I haven’t made it on to there yet. There has been talk about purchases an Xbox and rock band, but no one has acted on it. I’m trying to keep my finances in order so I can support myself during school for my last two semesters; I can’t go dropping hundreds of dollars for entertainment like that. If I had an infinite supply of money, it would be on my list of things to purchase. My only problem would be finding time to play it.
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Soul Searching 101
4. April 2008
Rachel
I talked to my dad on my way home from yoga, mulling over the latest quandary I let myself wander into. I’m sincerely confused and frustrated; frustrated because I’m confused (what a vicious cycle). I’m such a detailed-oriented person when it comes to just about everything, except boys. I don’t give myself enough time to evaluate my position in life, who this guy is, or how I feel about engaging myself in a relationship. I came out here expecting to stay single, on purpose. I thought it out, through and through. I saw no point in rushing something together over a six month period, only to leave for ten months or possibly never move back to Seattle (I plan on being back here, but hypothetically speaking). Lately, I can’t seem to find what makes me happy in a relationship; I’m in one right now, but I’m not feeling the way I had expected. I don’t need flowers, candy, or the stuffed animals; sure they’re great, but that is not what matters most to me. I feel like such a hypocrite saying, “I enjoy the emotional connection that I feel with a guy”, when I can’t even let myself open up to anyone. I put a wall up, and honest to God, I have no idea why. Maybe, I’m afraid of getting hurt. Legitimate reason I would assume, but I know that isn’t the only reason. Is it really me? Or is it the types of guys I’m fishing out of the dating pond? If you know the answer, please enlighten me.
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Sorry Mom, I still like it here
1. April 2008
Rachel
The room sits uncomfortably at 109+ for the second day in a row, with increased humidity, compared to the day before. I can feel every muscle in my body struggling to keep me balanced and centered as I lose my grip multiple times. With each position, Vidal encourages us to let go of all thoughts by concentrating on a center point in the mirror. It’s hard for me to completely turn off ideas and check-lists brewing in the back of my mind. When I actually can, that’s when I’m able to experience the benefits of yoga. Lately, I no longer perseverate over how hot, uncomfortable, or sweaty I am; it’s routine now and often welcomed. My next goal is to leave every problem, every worry, and all self-deliberation at the door; I want 90 minutes of complete peace. If I can accomplish that, gosh, I’d be so proud =)
I’m at the midpoint of my career as a Microsoft intern! I’m excited that I made it this far, but I’m sad that I’m almost finished. I love what I’m doing and the people who I work with. I couldn’t have asked for an overall better experience. Midpoint reviews are happening within the next few weeks. I scheduled meetings with my manager, mentor, and everyone else on my team. I’m hoping to walk away with some great feedback. I’ve never been critiqued before in a way that I want to receive feedback. If I’m doing horrible, I’d like to know! I’m sure, in past internships, that there were areas I could have performed better or more efficiently in. My managers would mostly give me positive feedback, which is good, but I feel like there is always room for improvement. I might not know where to look for that improvement and if I ask for it, or if someone else thinks I need it, I want to know where to find it!!! I feel like some managers, especially those new to interns, think they need to baby us. I won’t be receiving any babying after graduation, so don’t start now. Let’s hope I can squeeze out two more months over the summer here, after my internship is over. Cross your fingers for me, please!!
Happy April Fool’s Day!
Top 10 April Fools’ Day Joke Web Sites
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