Our Journey So Far...

Well.
We have a place to live in Seattle now. It's right downtown in an incredibly convenient location. We can take a 15 minute walk to Pike Place Market and I can walk to class in about 15 minutes as well. A lady called Zach back in response to some apartment inquiries and she was very happy to work with us. The stress of finding a place to live is over, but the stress of finding employment is growing.

I have applied to many positions: all positions that I would love to have and commit myself to. I think it is close to 40 or 50 so far (I've lost count of a few). However, it's been difficult without a Seattle address; I think employers just don't bother with our applications sometimes because our location is out of state. We have enough money saved up for several months of rent, so as long as we find a job within those first few months, we should be fine. At this point I'm going to start applying to wave-slave jobs in order for us to keep our head above water. Ugh cover letters are my enemy! Only because I always want them to be perfect and it takes me about 3 to 4 hours just to do one of them.

For the past few nights we had stayed in Moorhead, Minnesota with our great friend Lars and helped him move in while he let us stay with him. Right now we're in Medora, North Dakota visiting and staying with our friends Bretta and Dylan. I got incredibly sunburnt on the very first day, unfortunately, but we have some fun things planned such as hikes and possibly an excursion to Dickenson, ND for tattoos...

From here, we're driving out to Bozeman, Montana early Wednesday morning. It should take us about 8 hours to get there, I think. We'll stay in a hotel there, and hopefully head out early Thursday morning for the nearly 8 hour drive to Spokane, Washington where Zach's dad lives. We have a meeting with our landlord at 1pm in Seattle on Friday so that morning we'll leave Spokane early and get there in time to meet her. After 8 days of homelessness, we'll finally be in our new Seattle studio!

The pets have behaved surprisingly well on this long trip. There were a few times that Odin was spooked and/or meowed nonstop for a long time, but for the most part Feared Kraken (our bearded dragon) will bask in the sun on our dashboard and Odin will sleep on the armrest between the driver and the passenger seat. Here he is snoozing amongst some of the crap we have stuffed in the backseat:

Our new studio is kind of small, but Zach and I have never needed all that much space. I'm a little heartbroken we couldn't find a place with a patio or at least huge windows, but this was still an incredible gem to find, especially with it's incredible location and unbelievable price. I hope Odin likes it! Here's the floor plan:

It's June 4th today, meaning my summer class starts in exactly 10 days. I still have to finish reading the textbook due, but it shouldn't be a problem. I'm so nervous about this class! This course is available to both first years and second years, so there will be people A LOT more experienced than me in the class. How nerve-wracking! I have to get my act together as soon as I get there. Ah! I don't know how graduate students are supposed to be, I've never been one before!

To be honest, the night before we moved out I had a little break down at the horrifying thought of moving across the country to a huge city where nothing and nobody is familiar to us; plus we had no jobs and not all that much money. I just lost all hope and faith in our ability to make it. I'm ashamed of it now, because I'm incredibly confident in Zach and I as a team, but I do still think about it and wonder if it was warranted. I try to be so carefree, but something always stops me. I suppose that's the healthiest way to be: a bit cautious, a bit carefree. Oh how I over-analyze everything that doesn't need to be.


This is it, I've come to realize. This whole cross-country move. This is what I've been dreaming of for years and years: getting rid of almost everything I own, jumping on a freeway and driving for hours on end, to end up in a coastal city of opportunity, where I can start a whole new chapter of my life. My SCSU chapter has really been- erm, was, I guess- amazing. Absolutely amazing. I may have complained a lot during my 4 year stay, but I learned more than I ever thought possible. And the people I met? The people I met will stay with me for the rest of my life, whether we stay in touch or not. St. Cloud was where I found myself. Seattle will be where I build myself up from there.
And who knows what the rest of my life will bring?
All I know is I'm not going to tie myself down anywhere. The world is far to large to stay in one place and study one thing. I want to know it all, I want to bring my kids everywhere and teach them everything. I want to experience multiple cultures, I want to befriend people I never thought I'd get along with. I'm so damn young, which makes this whole thing so damn exciting! As I've said to Zach and would now like to remind myself: WE ARE MADE OF STARS. ★★★

In other news, I woke up yesterday with my next tattoo design all figured out in my head. If I find time today, I think I shall try and sketch it.

And with that, I'll end this post.
Here is some love: take it with you and spread it around today :)