I'm finally posting

Which is mildly ridiculous since I was there at the conception of this blog brain child. But I'm full of fail and I'm moving on from that.

I moved. I think you all probably know that, but I did. I am out of my mother's house and living with Nick in an apartment near Lake Merritt. You don't know where that is, but suffice it to say it's by a rather pretty man-made lake with LOTS of birds and we're half a block away from it, which is lovely. We're also walking distance from Trader Joes, the bay area's second most awesome pizza place, and 9.2 billion cafes so it's a pretty sweet spot. It makes me wish I worked somewhere else so that I could ditch my car. The apartment is a complete mess and I have no idea what to do about that because the only thing I can seem to keep consistently clean is the kitchen, which I suppose is a start.

Work is good. The chicklets have been sick for the past two weeks which has been absolutely exhausting because they are not sick enough to really have depleted energy but are sick enough to fall apart when anything doesn't go quite according to plan. I'm hoping they'll have made a full recovery by Monday.

I'm enrolled in a Microbiology class. It's hard, partially because my teacher is a crazy person. On our first test the average was a 56 (he's not curving it) and he's currently teaching us Lamarckian evolution as if it were truth. I've met some truly groovy people though, so that's good and I love the labs because bunsen burners, microscopes, and having my hands covered in dye make me feel like a mad scientist.

I miss you all a lot. I think about the suite ladies pretty much every day and love you all madly every second. I hope everyone's life is currently treating them well and I look forward to stalking you through various media :) Love and kisses.

Happy Purim!!

I just wanted to let you all know that this weekend is your favorite Jewish holiday...Purim!!
The mitzvah for Purim in known as "ad she-at lo yadah"...until you don't know. This means you are required to drink, smoke, anything, until you reach the point where you don't know what is what. In other words...GO GET WASTEY FACED!!! We all celebrated here last night (Naama dressed me up as a Playboy bunny...I will try to get pictures so you can all see. We got me the most amazing boots for it for about $11!!), but the parties go on into next week so you all have plenty of time : )
I miss all of you and am hoping for updates soon (or at least Purim stories if possible).
Mika sends adorable puppy kisses to everyone.
Miss you all!
Love,
Rachel

My New Baby

So I know I haven't written at all to keep everyone informed, but I had to let you all know I finally did it.....I got a puppy!!!!! : )
Her name is Mika, she is only 3 and a half years old, a yellow mut (I don't know what shes a mix of), and is the sweetest thing. I'm planning to put up pictures if I can figure out how, and will of course add more when I manage to catch her awake (she generally just barks at the camera if she sees it). We are hoping to get her a kitten friend soon so she won't be home alone all day, we just have to find the right pregnant kitty mommy who doesn't live too far away (my mother is terrified that if a kitten travels too far in a car it could die...or at least be traumatized for life. No good.).
In other news I got a job as a cashier at an English speaking supermarket just a block away from where Daniel works. I just started so we will see how it goes (unless I take-up the offer from a family friend to be his full-time babysitter...I'm just not sure I would know what to do with a baby at all, much less every day for hours at a time. Sarah? Help?).
I love and miss you all and hope you are having fun wherever and whatever you're doing.
Love,
Rachel

beer o'clock

Hello, all!

I thought you'd all deserve an update from our lovely little place in Mexico.

If I learn to post pictures, I'll also try to do that soon, and entice you all into coming (it looks like Toks and Essie already are?!?!?!)

So, as I said, it's lovely. The sunshine has done me a lot of good after snowy Maine and gloomy Seattle. We've been sharing the place with Anika's parents for a while (her dad left a week ago, and her mom heads out tomorrow), so it's been a bit cramped, but we've been working on things here to make it more comfortable. We've successfully created a fire pit from stones found alongside the road, and even cooked a meal on it a few nights ago, so I am of course pleased with the prospect of becoming a master griller. We've also made some gardening spots (which is terrifically difficult, we actually had to sift the dirt to get larger rocks out of it. sifting dirt. we didn't even find any gold); tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon are planted, and I think we'll be working on the herb area soon, as well as a strawberry hill. Wish us luck!

The garden, of course, is Anika's influence; under my leadership, we've been doing lots of reading, crosswords, word games, and working on our hacking skills (I must admit we've also watched more than a few episodes of Bones). And drinking lots of Pacifico ballenas. Anika has (under the influence of more than a few of these whales of beer bottles) even created a ballena dance, which perhaps you shall all be lucky enough to see.

We've also spent time relaxing on beaches, and meeting lots of people, sort of randomly, and exploring the little town we're in. There's a lovely place up the road that I want us all to experience together called Art & Beer (actually the ampersand is a treble clef, but I'm not quite sure where to find that on a keyboard) where the margaritas are GIANT and the view of the ocean is absolutely astounding. There are also dogs, everywhere, and a little goat that wanders near the house and bleats and bleats all day long in this adorable way, and a rooster farm that is WAY LESS ADORABLE AND FAR MORE ANNOYING.

So. I've been enjoying the sunshine, and the exploration, and having all of these great goals, and I'm excited for things to settle down a bit and for the garden to grow (I don't know that I'm patient enough for that) and to read and to learn, and I'm extremely excited to see those of you who are coming, and I love all of you.

Also, yes, the email address Maggie wrote is the best way to get to me. I don't get to the internet super often, but all of you have huge places in my heart and I promise I'll always get back to you ASAP, and I'll try to put more tales and pictures and joy on here. And I'll keep sending you sunshine and good vibes.

- Lizzy