austin adventures

I absolutely love going to a place that lives up to every stereotype you had in mind, which is how I felt from the moment I saw longhorn cattle on the side of the highway driving into Austin. Texas really does feel like its own country, and everything there is somehow more epic than it is everywhere else. The heat, the giant Capital, the barbecue, the weddings, Whole Foods, the music scene, the enormous university, the state pride, etc etc etc. Also, the bus drivers are very friendly, and the last Harry Potter movie is my favorite of the rest. It was a fun weekend, but I am glad to be back where the air is dry and life is a little more serene and calm. 88 degree weather never felt more like springtime.

Seattle spring

 Flowers at Pike Place Market

 The Seattle aquarium in Puget Sound

 

 Colors at the Olympic Sculpture Park

 

 The Experience Music Project museum

 Views from a run to the top of the city

A secret garden in the hillside neighborhoods

I spent last week in Seattle as part of a national geography conference. The city was everything I imagined: amazing food, even more amazing coffee, cloudy skies, Pacific mist, and an amazingly casual urban vibe. Love the city, don't love the climate. I'll say I liked the weather though; it's very refreshing and much better than the dense overcast/pouring rain/ice/snowstorms of central Pennsylvania. It was a fun week and a great chance to catch up with friends and undergrad professors after the thesis maelstrom of the past couple months, and I can't wait to go back someday to explore a little more and make trips over to the rainforest and mountains. 

Now that I'm back at school, but with the purpose of my life (thesis) complete, I am at a strange limbo-esque stage and trying to juggle the new more relaxed schedule of my life back into a semblance of balance. I am not as excited and proud of myself for finishing my thesis as I probably should be. The stress and worry of finding a job is kind of overwhelming for now. 

However, (despite random lingering 40* days) spring is here, my birthday is next week, I am a diploma away from being a Master, and the future will work itself out.