Birthday Weekend

I apologize for how long it has taken me to post these photos! I had a great birthday weekend. I thank all of the people that made it so wonderful, all of our new friends, my sister who flew down for it, and Bob who cooked wonderful desserts. I think the pictures say more than I can. Bob and I are both so fortunate to have met such wonderful people. Davis is beginning to feel a little like home. Here is a picture of a girls night out, a picture of Jordan and Josh playing the Wii ,and one of Baby Alden and me.

New Job

So I took the job with the engineering firm that has a few development projects on its horizon. Here is the office in Vacaville and I'll get one soon of the one in Woodland. Right now I have just been in Vacaville because the Woodland office doesn't have a functioning furnace. Hopefully it will be fixed soon and I will commute less. Until then I guess I'll start using it as an opportunity to Christmas shop. I've been working on gathering information on zoning, setbacks etc., and have begun site planning. It will be a lot of fun to work all the way through a project; although challenging.
This is Bob's last weekend of reading and writing for the term and then all he has left are papers to grade. We are looking to drive home on the 21st and then drive back here on the 2nd. This weekend we've also been dog sitting and Lulu's friend is a little older and a little slower and it has been funny to watch Lulu try to get her to play.

San Francisco

San Francisco is about 70 miles from Davis and this last weekend I had another class in this beautiful city so I thought I would post a couple pictures. I apologize if it seems like a giant advertisement for large department stores, but I thought they were very pretty. They were also very crowded and I did not do any shopping while I was there. It was a beautiful day and there was an art show going on in Union Square, it was too bad I spent 7 hours inside listening to a lecture on Lateral Forces. The good news is that I met another person traveling from Sacramento to SF for these classes. The first class I went to, Bob drove and hung out in the city. This time I drove to a BART station and caught it into town, which although cheaper and less stressful, took almost an hour longer.

More Thanksgiving!

Did I mention the Nintendo Wii? Kris and Drew weren't the only ones who enjoyed it either!

Thanksgiving Weekend!!

I don't have much to write about this time, just lots of photos, but here is a summary. Bob and I flew home on Tuesday night, took care of our house on Wednesday, and then headed for Sunriver with my family. Bob did most of the cooking Thursday, Caitlyn turned three on Friday, and we played in the snow on Saturday morning. Saturday evening and the rest of our time in Oregon, was spent with Bob's family. It was a little surreal being back in Salem. It was pouring down rain and November 2006 is now Oregon's wettest! Thanks to all the friends and family we got to see, it was great - the rest of you we hope to see at Christmas.

Santa Cruz Groupies

Last weekend Bob and I went to Santa Cruz for dinner at Becky and Chris' (pictured in the middle) with Elizabeth (far right) and Anna (far left). Now what is so special about these people warrent a two hour drive? Elizabeth was in town for a conference and Becky, Chris and Anna all recently moved from Oregon to California and Chris and Anna are working on their PhDs as well. (From U Of O) So we get together, reminisce ,as well as complain about whatever is driving us crazy. Unfortunately we did not make it to the butterfly sanctuary I mentioned earlier, because of all things, it was raining.
This weekend of course was in the 70s. We rode our bikes to Jordan and Rosana's to watch the Michigan vs Ohio State football game with some other students. It was a great game, but it seemed such a shame not to spend the day outside!
Bob and I are very excited for this next week - we fly home on Tuesday night!! We just took Lulu out tonight to meet the friends (Keren and Adam) she will be staying with. They have a dog named Wheezy that we will probably watch the beginning of December when they go back east for an early Christmas. So when we get back next Sunday, look for family and food photos - Bob and I are cooking this year!
(This is Chris and because bunny named Pesto. She has the softest fur and is very cute.)

Halloween Pictures

This is a little late, but here are a few pictures from a party we went to. Bob is standing with Jordan and Ryan, both fellow first year students. I am pictured with Rosana, Jordan's girlfriend, although the Corona and Lime costumes may have suggested that.

Job offer and Other Updates

I don't have any new pictures for this post, but I thought I would give a little update. I've had about an interview a week over the last month and yesterday I received an email about an offer. It is a pretty good one too. It is with a Civil Engineering firm that also has a couple of development projects scattered from LA to Sacramento. They said it would be a challenging job for me, but they felt I had a solid foundation of knowledge to build on. The projects are pretty cool but I would have to commute 3 times a week (to Vacaville) for the first couple of months. My other option is to call the last firm I interviewed with here in Davis and let them know I have this offer and see if they are still interested in hiring me. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the last two months of being an independent contractor, setting my own hours and what not, but I think it may be time for a regular office with a schedule and standard pay check. I am excited about the possibilities with either firm, I just don't know yet which is the best fit and the best in the long run. But it is nice to have to worry about a choice.
Tomorrow I think we are headed to Santa Cruz to visit friends from U of O again. There is a Monarch Butterfly resting area near there this time of year and I hope to have some images for the next post.
It is sunny and 60 degrees today, not too shabby and yesterday I found myself thinking, I am happy here. Maybe it was because of the job offer, maybe because Thursday night we go out with other grad students and I was looking forward to it ,or maybe we have adjusted. I still refer to home being Oregon, but I don't know if that will change. Time is really flying by and soon it will be Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween

Most of you know I am a sucker for kid's activities, so how could I possibly pass up pumpkin carving? Here is a picture of the finished products. Rosanna and I had a great time Sunday evening although the weather suddenly turned cool and we had to carve them inside. Bob and I only had two trick or treaters because downtown Davis businesses put together an early evening of handing out candy. Maybe next year I'll be working downtown and can enjoy the costumes there.

Here is another picture of Lulu with Blackberry - yes I believe it to be the last warm, sunny day of the year.

Nat and Allison's Wedding

At the beginning og October we flew back to Portland for Nat and Allison's wedding. Below are a couple of pictures. What a weekend it was!

Week 6 - is that all?

Sometimes you may notice I mention some of our new friends - mostly fellow grad students of course. Well here is a picture of Shelley and baby Alden. He just turned 6 weeks old this week and is so huge compared to when we met him 5 weeks ago. She is holding him in a Mobi wrap and says it is very comfortable. When her husband wears it we like to call it the man womb, although Shelley says it is more awkward than when she was pregnant.

We were just commenting tonight on how close Thanksgiving is and how it seems we haven't really moved because we are so fortunate to be coming home for the Holidays and we were just home for a wedding. I don't think we'll feel like we've really moved until January. I was also talking about how I feel trapped in Davis and Woodland and I think it is because those are the only areas I am comfortable getting around in. It certainly isn't the fact we are surrounded by corn and wheat fields, so hopefully this weekend I'll go exploring while Bob studies!

Right now Bob is working in the study with another grad student for a project tomorrow. He does seem busier working for his PhD than his masters, but I think he has one more course than normal right now. He has class 3 days a week but is on campus pretty much every day.

I am still working independently and have my hopes on getting a different position at the university. It would mean a regular schedule, but also regular benefits and some other perks that go with a campus job.

Unique to Davis

Round-abouts may be common in larger European cities, or small, vacation communities, but what about for bicycles? This is just one of many bike-round-abouts in Davis. The bleachers you see behind it belong to the current athletic field (a new stadium is under construction this fall).

The Pets

Some of you have asked how the animals are adjusting. Well here is a picture of where Izzy likes to sleep, a picture of Lulu playing with her new friend Blackberry ,and one of Bob and Lulu taking a nap.

My Drive

Right now my drive to work is pretty easy. There are 4 stop signs and 5 stop lights, and the only traffic I really have to deal with is farm equipment! The view out my window is either fields of vegetables, or fields getting ready to have vegetables in them. Of course I could take a highway, but when the country road looks like this, why mess with the commute? On this day there were a few welcomed rain drops that hit my windshield.

The place we call home right now

Here are pictures of our place/condo/duplex. It has two bedrooms and two baths and a sunroom along with the normal kitchen, living room etc. It is one story and there are four of them hooked together so we share a side wall with one neighbor and a back wall with another. They were built in the '80s as the lovely teal carpet will show. We have a side and front yard as well as a shaded patio and yes that is a solar water heater on the roof. Of course we miss our little bungalow in Salem with its hardwood floors, but this isn't too shabby!

Week three

Maybe it is just because I started work this week, but it seems longer. On Saturday I made my first bike ride into the downtown. Bob has been making it to get to the University, but I had not had a chance yet. I think I did ok and we made it to the Saturday Market and back. Also this weekend we headed towards Santa Cruz to visit some friends from Bob's time at U of O. It was great. We had a wonderful meal where we talked about how unbelievably difficult it was to find housing and move to California. It turns out Bob and I probably had the easiest time of all (out of three couples), boy were we surprised to hear that. The next day we had a great breakfast together before heading to the boardwalk. Although it was pretty cool, we couldn't take Lulu so we left there hoping to go back soon. We then started our drive north and continued to look for beaches to stop at, but it turns out they also don't allow dogs!! So we stopped for lunch in Half Moon Bay before heading east for home. Next time we'll take our dog friendly places book with us.
Last night we had dinner with Bob's cohort. It was interesting to look around the table and be able to point out who we'd like to hang out with more and who we hope to not be seeing very often. One of the guys looks like "Jim" on the office!
My work is going ok although between working at home 2 days a week and not going in until 10am others, means I really have to work at getting 40 hours in. Plus we still don't know if she can keep me longer than 10 weeks.
In other news our streets and carports are being repaved and it is a bit of a pain! Friday we can park our car next to our place again, thank goodness.

Week Two in Davis

I applied to a University position, I dropped off a resume at a firm, I called another firm, but nothing. Then out of the blue I get a phone call and have an interview and then a job! We make another trip to Ikea, we eat out some more, we make it to the dog park and we are all unpacked. We miss home still but are trying to make this as best as possible. We had friends over for a BBQ. It still feels weird like everyone we know is missing. Bob asks if I am tired of him yet. And sadly, we took the California test for changing our driver's licenses. We both passed, but it takes like 2 weeks to send them to us. Just another strange thing about this state.

Week One in Davis

Week one was interesting. First it included us unpacking a truck - just the two of us - trying to get unpacked and settled before I had to begin work two days later. Then when I arrive at work, I find out I no longer have a job and must start the search process over. So I spent my time unpacking and using someone else's internet to job search. We made a trip to Ikea and tried to venture through Sacramento and got very turned around. We ate out a lot. We have take out menus now for all of the places within 1/2 a mile. We went to the Davis Ace Hardware so often I thought they'd know us by now. We met up with Shelley and Joshua and their new baby Alden as well as their dog Blackberry. And of course we missed home.