Move

I'm done with Blogger. You can find my new blog here: gasstovegirl.wordpress.com.

Utah!

Dane and I shared the picture taking duties on this trip, but he is a far better and more patient photographer than I am. Chances are good that if you like the photo it is his.

The desert was in bloom:

This is an ancient grainery (place for storing grain) in the Needles District of Canyonlands.

See all that bumpy ground? That's cryptobiotic crust. It's a community of lichens, mosses, bacteria and other little critters that develops on bare ground. It helps stabilize the soil and takes decades to form. This is one of the best examples I've ever seem.

This is the backside of Castle Valley. You can see the "castle" in the middle of the photo way off in the distance.

The Apartment

I'll start with pictures of the apartment and move on to the trip. I love how there is neatly framed art on the walls and random crap spread all over the floor. We've cleaned it up a little bit, but it's impossible to get it too tidy when we don't have things like hangers, dressers or desks. The movers will bring those things in a few weeks. We are hoping sooner rather than later, but it's looking like later. Boo to them!!

Below is a picture of the front entry and kitchen. The bathroom is just to the left as you enter.

Here is another angle from the corner of the living room.

Here is the bedroom looking into the living room and kitchen!

And that's it! It's a cute space and I'm excited to get to know all it's nooks and crannies as we figure out how to make a 2 bedroom, 1000 square foot apartment fit into a 1 bedroom 700 square foot space. I think I'm up for the challenge.

A New Home

We did it! I'm writing this blog post from inside our new apartment!

Within 24 hours of arriving in the city and after looking at only two apartments (and literally hundreds of craigslist ads), we made what may look like a very rash decision. We agreed to buy the equivalent of an MacBook Pro, an iPad, and an iPod Touch for our landlords every single month for a year. Yikes. I can already tell my sense of reality slipping away from me. However, in our defense, it met absolutely all of our requirements for an apartment and was even 100-200 dollars less per month than our maximum willingness to pay.

It's a one bedroom apartment on the third story of a five story building right at the edge of downtown Berkeley. We have the city out our front door and neighborhoods and park out the back. We're 4 blocks from the downtown Berkeley BART (the subway) so it's relatively easy for Dane to commute.

The kitchen has a gas stove (!), dishwasher, built-in microwave, and garbage disposal. I know those may all seem like pretty standard kitchen items, but it was really hard to find them in this city. I don't care about stuff like granite counter tops, but we also have those too. Nerd Alert: Technically it is not granite because granite is a specific kind of intrusive igneous rock.

The unit includes a high efficiency washer and dryer! For some reason the first load turned our new white towels a very pale green. Hopefully that won't continue to happen. I think it's nothing a little bleach can't fix. I believe it's because it's a brand new washer. I don't think I mentioned earlier that this is a brand new, never-been-occupied building.

There's a cute dining room with a pass over counter from the kitchen. The living room is small, but we can deal. The bedroom is big enough that I think we may be able to keep some of the stuff we thought we would have to get rid of for sure. I think we have enough closet space to keep all of our camping gear.

We have a secure assigned parking spot in the lot below the complex. It's so nice to be able to leave the car and forget about it.

I'll take pictures and post them when we get the place cleaned up a bit. I also need to fill you in on the rest of our road trip. Since I last wrote we've been to Death Valley, Bodie (a ghost town), Mono Lake, Reno, the Cascades, and Bend, Oregon. Plus I need to upload pictures of the entire thing. There is much to do and I finally feel like I have plenty of time to do it.

Reporting from inside Caesar's Palace!

Would you believe it if I told you that we started the day in the middle of the Navajo Reservation, hit the Grand Canyon by 9:30 this morning, drove over the Hoover Dam, and ended the day in beautiful Las Vegas? Well, that is exactly what we did. Crazy? Yes. Fun? Absolutely.

Gotta go! Plenty more to do!

Viva Las Vegas!

p.s. To Regina: sorry I didn't let you know about our Grand Canyon appearance, but we were only there for about three hours, so it really wasn't worth your while to drive up from Tucson.

Slow internet update

Dane and I are currently sitting in a coffee shop in Moab, Utah sipping on delicious and overpriced fruit smoothies and using the slowest internet connection this side of the Rockies. I wanted to do a "picture blog," but this connection is going to make it impossible. I just spent 10 minutes sending an email with two photos. We'll stick with text.

Day 1: Bloomington, Indiana to Omaha, Nebraska.

We checked out of our apartment and left Bloomington about 10:30 am. The check-out went well. They were amazed we actually cleaned the place. We were amazed other people are so casual about getting their deposit back. We blazed through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. We were excited to put all the "I" states behind us. We ended the night by bottoming out the car in the Super 8 parking lot. I don't think anything got broken.

Day 2: Omaha, Nebraska to Fort Collins, Colorado

Nebraska was more interesting than I remembered. We spent a lot of time listening to country music and really enjoyed the hourly livestock price updates and herbicide ads and we smelled some truly foul feedlots. Even though we spent a few hours in Wyoming, I don't think we ever stepped foot outside the car. Dane's amazing friends from college were our hosts for the night in Fort Collins. They took us out from two-for-one tempe burgers and ice cream. So yummy!

Day 3: Fort Collins, Colorado to Some Random Piece of BLM Land 20 miles outside Castle Valley, Utah and right next to the Colorado River.

We started the day by stopping at REI to return a jacket Dane didn't like and buy a new Camelbak for me. Then we drove through the snowy mountains. It was a tad terrifying, but Dane did a great job at the wheel. There's something about mountain passes with a car full of valuable possessions, snow, ice, and speeding trucks that is the opposite of relaxing. I was happy when we made it to the desert flats of Utah. We decided to take the scenic route to Castle Valley, our proposed destination for the evening. The road was AMAZING with very few people, few signs, and steep curves right above the Colorado River. We came across a place to camp about 8 pm, a little earlier than we planned to stop, but the site along the river was so inviting that we called it a night.

Day 4: Some Random Piece of BLM Land 20 miles outside Castle Valley, Utah and right next to the Colorado River to Big Bend Campground about 5 miles outside Moab, Utah.

We spent the day in Arches National Park! Beautiful and breathtaking does not begin to describe it. Dane and I took turns driving so we could take in all the beauty. We did about a 3 mile hike up one of the valleys and saw about 10 different arches. Now it's back to our campsite for dinner and relaxing.

Graduation, Packing, Wine, Fire Towers, Ice Cream!

Graduation was a blast. We somehow entertained and fed 9 people in our apartment, got hooded as Masters, and packed 80% of our stuff all since last 5 days. We are tired. Dane is taking a nap as we speak. Here are some pictures of the last week taken on the brand new digital camera my Dad gave me for graduation. Thanks, Dad! It's working great!

It's hard to see, but I swear the picture below is me getting hooded with my Masters hood.

Dane is so excited about packing!

He seems more genuinely excited about climbing to the top of a fire tower. We are up above the trees.

We also went to Oliver Winery to sample wine and eat some tasty cheese.

We've also been taking frequent breaks for ice cream.

Done.

I am done with graduate school. My semester ended at 4:15 pm today when I pressed "send" on my take home exam.

So far I think life outside school is pretty great. I've already been out for ice cream, gone on a hike, climbed to the top of a fire tower, had dinner at a cafe overlooking Lake Monroe, eaten delicious calamari, drank fabulous fresh squeezed lemonade, and watched three episodes of Lost. Not too shabby.

I'm even more excited for tomorrow when the fun really starts and a few of my favorite people start showing up in town.

Tomorrow afternoon Dane's parents, sister, and two super cute nephews (they call me "Uncle Kate") show up. I love Dane's nephews. Every time we see them Dane has to talk me down from buying tons of gifts.

Later that night I need to go pick up my friend Noah up at the airport. He's flying in from Colorado to watch me graduate and help us pack just because he is that cool. He's also starting his PhD program in Chemistry at UC Berkeley next semester so he'll be our neighbor. I'm so excited to distract him from his important graduate school work!

On Friday morning my Dad flies in from Minneapolis and should arrive in Bloomington around noon. Since I won't see my Dad until next Christmas this is a major event.

Then it's on to graduation and waiting for my name to be called and smiling and cheering and eating and entertaining and drinking and sleeping very little.

I'm up for the challenge. So far post-graduate school is wonderful.

Thanks to all for your support and putting up with my bad attitude about the last two years. You are the best!

Getting nervous

Let me just start out by saying that I know everything will be just fine. We have a plan. We are smart people. We have an awesome road trip coming up. We almost have Masters degrees. We are prepared. We are planners.

BUT...

I would really like to have us (and all of our stuff) moved safely across the country and moved into an adorable 1 or 2 bedroom apartment on a quiet street in Berkeley less than 5 blocks from a BART station by June 26th. It also needs to have ample closet space, a well equipped kitchen, and parking. If we could have access to a yard and be close to a grocery store that would be amazing. We must be able to move in immediately. The landlord better be good. It must cost less than $2000 a month. Does such an apartment exist? I'm not sure.

I keep thinking of things, tiny things, we need to think about. For example:

- Do we need to get a parking permit for the moving truck to park on a city street?

- Did we insure our stuff for enough with the movers?

- Is it better to pack a bunch of valuable stuff in one box or spread over multiple boxes? What if that box gets lost?

- What is the likelihood my car will get broken into in a given neighborhood?

- Can we live in a first floor apartment or is that just an invitation to burglars?

- My health insurance is up on August 13th (a Friday, spooky). That's before I get back from field camp. Is this something I need to take care of before I leave?

- Do I have enough money to convince a landlord that I can pay rent even though I don't have a job after August?

- Was this move really a good idea?

Yes, it's true. I'm starting to doubt this whole move to California. It's just been the last few days. The reality of real life is setting in. I just want to get moving, get packing, and get on our road trip. This whole sit-around-and-study-for-finals thing is not the best thing for my busy, alway-thinking brain. I need a destination, an agenda, a goal--and soon.

The promise of family and friends at the end of the week is keeping me grounded.

Question of the Day

Why do baby carrots taste so much better than regular carrots?

Why I hate cooking meat: A brief story

I have cooked meat twice in the last week. This is unheard of. I attribute it to the warm weather. Warm weather makes me think about grilling and grilling makes me think about brats and burgers. I can't help it. So even though I don't actually have a grill I still want the meat part.

What is the number one problem with meat? I can never tell when it's done.

I just got done cooking chicken, but I'm still not sure I didn't poison myself. I cooked it in the oven for about an hour in about 1/2 an inch of water and it looked done in the center (very done), but the internal temperature never got above 150 degrees. When I opened the oven there was a bunch of steam, so that means it was boiling right? Agh. This is why I don't cook meat. I'm never convinced that I've cooked it enough and so I end up over cooking it.

I'll let you know if I have salmonella in a few days.

New glasses

Hey all!
Just picked up my new pair of glasses. I love them! Here's a picture:

Facebook free is the way to be

Hey friends,
I have left the facebook world with very mixed feelings. I really loved using it to connect with family and friends, but it was getting creepy and annoying. I was willing to put up with all the Farmville requests and event requests in states I don't live in, but tonight the creep factor got the best of me. I was minding my own business looking at apartments in the Bay Area (it's become a major pass time), when all of a sudden my avatar pops up at the top of the webpage asking if I want to share what I'm looking at with my facebook friends.

I heard about this new feature on the news, but I didn't know what it would look like exactly. I suddenly felt this presence in my computer. The computer, the interwebs, the facebook, the somebody knew that I was looking at this webpage. I'm sure this happens all the time (I'm sure google knows everything about me and every other person who's ever been online), but to actually have it pointed out was not okay.

As Dane wisely said earlier this week: "I'm sure they're not trying to be creepy, but that doesn't change how I feel." It's absolutely true. It's hard to argue with how I feel. I know they give you all this control and all these privacy settings, but I'm not sure what they all mean.

Long story short: If you want to keep in touch with me just keep on reading this blog. I will try to call more often and we can have a genuine conversation.

Radio Silence

Sorry for radio silence the next few weeks. I'm finishing up the semester, writing, studying, packing, looking for an apartment in a new city, and spending money hand over fist (on airline tickets, new glasses, money, road trips, and apartments). I promise to emerge in about three weeks with a far lighter heart and bank account.

Life is amazing and wonderful despite four days of continous rain in Indiana and a lack of cooking projects. Despite the work that still needs to get done I'm actually able to enjoy a glass of wine while I write this (sorry if the grammar and spelling are especially sloppy!). Dane is almost done with the semester and there are just two tests between me and graduation.

I think we may have found an apartment in Berkeley. Keep your fingers crossed! I can't tell more or I might jinx it, but it has parking, a dishwasher, a washer and dryer, a view, and a gas stove. It's also near the BART system. Maybe it won't work out, but it gives me hope that we will find something. While Dane was talking on the phone to the leasing dude yesterday he casually mentioned my impending Masters degree and I suddenly realized that the title sounded pretty impressive. I liked it. I hope I get the chance to casually drop that little tidbit into a conversation in the future, even if I have not enjoyed the actual Masters experience.

I also got an official job offer for the summer. I'm over the moon about this job. It's going to let me get outside, doing geology, experimenting with teaching, and improving my general attitude towards life. Expect only occasional updates this summer since I won't have internet access or a place to upload pictures, but I promise the most beautiful post when I get back full of nerdy geologic terms.

Got to get back to ecology, natural resource law, and research for a professor.

Kate, out.

My Favorite President

Tonight I'm going to see the President of the United States. Actually, I'm going to see Martin Sheen, the actor who played President Bartlet on the TV series The West Wing. Here's hoping that Martin Sheen is half as smart, charming, and funny as the character he played.

And here's a short clip for your viewing pleasure:

Lactards and Vegans Beware!

Tonight I'm making cheese fondue.

It's comforting and social and warm and rich and filling. Everything you would want on a cold evening in the middle of winter.... Too bad it's spring. Oh well, it's a cool spring day.

Ingredients:

8 oz Gruyere Cheese, shredded

8 oz Emmentaler or good swiss cheese, shredded

2 Tbs cornstarch

1 clove garlic, peeled and halved

1 cup Riesling wine, plus extra for later in the evening when the fondue needs more liquid

1-2 Tbs cherry brandy or kirsch

1 Tbs lemon juice

a pinch of nutmeg

Things to dip: french bread, vegetables, small children, very small rocks

Methods:

1. Coat the grated cheeses with the cornstarch, mixing throughly.

2. Rub the clove of garlic inside your fondue pot, discard.

3. Add the wine and kirsch, bring to a simmer and slowly add the cheese a handful at a time. Stir and wait for the cheese to melt before adding another handful.

4. When all the cheese is added and mostly melted add the lemon juice and nutmeg.

Helpful insights: The lemon juice breaks down the cheese and gives it a much smoother texture. If your fondue is the wrong consistency you need to adjust 1 of 4 things: cheese, wine, heat or lemon. For a fondue that's too runny: turn down the heat, and let some of the wine evaporate. If the fondue is too thick: turn up the heat, add some wine or a little lemon juice. You'll likely need to monitor and make adjustments during the party, but it's not rocket science.

Other amazing things I'll be eating and serving:

- Homemade bread made from this recipe book: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/. It's just too easy to make bread with this recipe. I feel like I'm cheating. Love it!

- A citrus quinoa salad that is easily the best preparation of quinoa I've ever had. I stole the idea from my amazing friend Regina: http://reginarae.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/quinoa-with-citrus-soaked-dried-fruit-mint/

Mistaken identity

My dear friend from grad school shared this story in an email and I thought I would share it with you. I laughed out loud.

To: Kate

From: Caitlin

Subject: A conversation I had with myself today

dear kate,

for your springtime silliness and enjoyment, i would like to share a scene from the life of caitlin today:

(setting: i was waiting in the art museum cafe line contemplating why i had been given a packet of mayonnaise for my sandwich when i had very clearly asked for mustard when i noticed a group of students walking by the museum store and down the stairs to exit the building. it looked like some sort of class or meeting had just been let out... )

[you have to read the voice of reason a little sarcastically..]

caitlin: huh. that person looks like dane

**i go back to thinking about mustard**

voice of reason: how many people do you know or have you seen before who look like dane?

caitlin: oh true. i have not seen very many people who look like dane...

**think about mayonnaise**..

caitlin: but dane has really really short hair. that dane look alike's hair was too long

voice of reason: dane's hair could have grown out after he got his hair cut you know.. that was a while ago

caitlin: well that's not dane. where is his mac computer?

voice of reason: it's possible dane is not always attached to some sort of mac computer every minute of the day...

caitlin: but dane is in informatics. that means he is in the informatics building, not the art museum

voice of reason: but doesn't dane do design stuff sometimes? maybe he was studying design. this is an art museum, next to the arts building...

caitlin: but where's kate? i always see kate-and-dane. together. dane is always with kate. so that's not dane cuz there's no kate logan.

voice of reason: this is school.. it's possible dane is in class.. which would be why there is no kate.. because they have different classes.. you know?.. and they're 2 distinct people not joined at the hip.. you know?..

...

caitlin: oh hey! i think i just saw dane!

voice of reason: there ya go! and we have a winner!

but of course by then he was out of my view so i didn't say hi. but i wanted to tell you i think i saw dane today in the art museum (what was he doing there? it really was weird seeing him without you. i've never seen that before), and the art museum cafe patio is a super duper wonderful place to sit on a warm day and enjoy bloomington weather and art sculptures and quietness. it's excellent for studying, doodling, or writing thank you letters (i did the latter but could have easily done the first two). just don't ever buy the sandwich because it's almost $6 and it's only half a sandwich! but other than that, i highly highly recommend you go to sit sometime in the next 2 weeks between classes.

End of email

Caitlin, thanks for making my life so much better!

Today's Question

Were there as many crazy people before the internet?

Maybe the internet's just let all the crazy people find one another.

Sentences about I

A brief summary of today:

1. I turned in 3 papers today. One was 12 pages about the ecological impact of cattle grazing in the Western U.S. The second was a 30 page critique of cost estimates for Millennium Goal Target 7. The third was a 100 page report on National Wildlife Refuge water policy. Yes, that is approximately 150 pages in papers. I could publish a small and very boring novel.

2. I gave a presentation wearing a very cute bright pink ruffled shirt and patent leather mary jane shoes. I don't know how anybody could take me seriously, but I think they did.

3. I came home and ate more of the world's most delicious tacos. While eating them I realized I am now essentially done with 2 of my 4 classes.

4. I went to the recycling center where I found the mother load of moving boxes. I visited cats and dogs at the animal shelter. I ran in the field behind our house. I painted my nails while listening to Minnesota Public Radio.

I am happy.

The Blue Apple

I outright stole this pizza idea from a gourmet pizza place here in Bloomington called Lennie's. It's called The Blue Apple. We made it tonight. It's my favorite pizza in the whole wide world.

Give it a try! It's just pizza dough stretched as thin as you can get it with pesto, paper thin sliced onions, sliced green apple, blue cheese, walnuts, and mozzarella.

Have you ever tried baking your pizza on a piece of parchment paper? Well, let me just tell you that it is the BEST. We don't have a pizza stone so we just slip an upside down metal pan in oven while it's preheating. We cook our pizza at about 450-really hot. Make your pizza on top of the parchment paper. Then, after the oven is at temperature, transfer the parchment paper (with pizza on top) into the oven over the stone or pan. Cook for about 15 minutes and it's done. So easy!

Prediction

In 4 weeks it will be Sunday, May 9th. I'll be hanging out with family and friends celebrating. There will be beer. I will wear a dress!

Taco Town!

Dane and I don't like our tacos like this:

(Dane just taught me how to embed video. It's shockingly easy!)

We like our tacos small and packed with goodness. Like this:

They are the best tacos this side of the Mississippi River if I do say so myself. I can't share all our secrets, but here is the guacamole recipe.

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados sliced and slightly mashed

1 tomato chopped

1/2 of a small onion, finely chopped

1 tsp cider vingar

a handful of cilantro

juice of one lime

1 tsp salt

plenty of freshly ground black pepper

a sprinkle of cayenne or tabasco for heat

Methods: Mush all of the above ingredients until delicious. Adjust the spicing until it's perfect for you. Enjoy with lightly fried corn tortillas, sharp cheddar cheese, lettuce, and taco tvp (you can find this in the hippy food aisle). It's a vegetarian taco extravaganza!

Cheese List

We currently have 9 different types of cheese in our fridge. Doesn't that seem like a lot? Maybe not, but we are only two people. None are super exciting, but all are super delicious.

Here is a list

1. Coby-Jack Cheese Sticks

2. String Cheese

3. Sharp Cheddar

4. Swiss

5. Emmentaler (Yes. Emmentaler is just nice swiss cheese, but I think it should count anyway)

6. Gruyere

7. Blue

8. Mozzarella (Again, string cheese and mozzarella are the same, but I'm counting it)

9. Parmesan

Now if only we had some goat cheese and a really runny soft-ripened cheese...

New Art

To celebrate this fine Thursday afternoon and signing a contract with our movers, I decided to frame the picture above. It's actually an image from the back of a T-shirt Dane brought home earlier in the week. I absolutely loved the imagine, but the it was a size large and I'm not into the whole big T-shirt look. Soooooo...I decided to cut it out and frame it. Free art! Unfortunately I cut my finger on the glass while putting it back together. It's kind of a bummer since I have lots of typing to do in the next four days. Still, a small price to pay for cheap beauty.

Let's Try Again

As graduate school comes to a close, I've been thinking more intentionally about the kind of life I want. As much as I have disliked my experience the last two years, I'll admit I've learned a lot about myself, what I like to do, and what I don't like to do. And those are all very valuable things.

Here's a list of things I like:

Ice cream

Beets

Quiche

McDonald's French Fries

Baking Bread

Canoeing

Hiking

My family

Dane

Rocks

Musk ox

Cats

Art

Simple calculus problems

Here is a list of things I don't like:

Professors who profess on the environment but never go outside

Buildings that leak and aren't maintained

Feeling lost

Losing my sense of hope and confidence

Bureaucracy

Things I learned about myself:

I work best in beautiful spaces

I feel best with exercise, a good nights sleep, and fresh air

You can find good people everywhere

Finding passionate people is important to me

I love cooking for people and throwing a good dinner party

I need art in my life

I think it's a good sign there is a longer list of things I like than things I don't like.

So, why start a blog again when I failed so miserably before. Well, it's pretty simple. I want a place that isn't Facebook where I can share recipes, stories, pictures and ideas with the people I love and maybe a few strangers. I'm also starting to realize that I'll need a hobby after graduation. Right now I have exactly one hobby--cooking. Can you count reading the New York Times as a hobby? I also do that. So, I hope this blog isn't exactly my hobby, but I hope it's a place where I can share and document this odd transition into adulthood and job hunting and weekends off and new friends and new adventures and hobbies.

What's next for me? Well, a certain special boy and I are moving to the failed state of California. He has a job and I have hope in the unseen. We'll be living in San Francisco in a yet-to-be determined location. We graduate exactly one month from today. I can't wait for our family and friends to arrive. Exactly one month and 9 days from today the movers will come pick up most of our things. Exactly one month and 11 days from today we shut the door on our cute 2 bedroom apartment for the last time, load up the car with camping gear and point the car west. We'll meander our way through the most beautiful parts of the country for two weeks, camping all along the way. In early June we'll reach the Bay and start our apartment search. Dane starts work on the 21st of June. Hopefully the movers arrive soon after and all of our stuff is still there. Less than a week later I'll be back in Bloomington for my summer job as an AI at Indiana University's Geologic Field Station. I know, this town just will not let me go. But, this time I'm only spending 48 hours within the city limits before the caravan leaves for Montana. After 6 weeks of hiking and mapping and teaching I'll return to California and the adventure will begin in earnest.

Until then, I'll be noticing the little things and sharing short tidbits as often as possible. Welcome to Kate's California Adventure!