Please Sir, May I Have a Job?

What the heck? Why aren't there any jobs in Eugene (rhetorical question)? Really though, I've applied at lots of places and have heard nothing. NOTHING. I went to college, I earned my degree, I have some work experience, I'm awesome, why don't they want me?

I'm feeling downcast. I am simultaneously feeling lame that nobody wants to give me a job, which makes me feel slightly worthless and feeling panicked about paying off loans and paying for our trip to Europe. That trip is the only thing I am looking forward to right now; if I don't have that I feel I will melt into a sad puddle on the floor.

So please, please, if you know anyone who might hire me to do anything other than food service, please let me know asap.



It's one of those days.

Confessions of a Finicky Eater

I have always been choosy about my food. My parents called my "picky," I prefer "finicky," or "selective" when it comes to describing my eating. The point is, the list of things I would not eat used to be significantly longer than the list of things I would. At age five I ate melted cheese sandwiches, chicken strips, applesauce, and cereal; present my with a vegetable and I suddenly my knee would hurt too much for me to eat dinner, or I'd come up with some other ailment.

Twenty years later, I am still a finicky eater but I've figured out the real problem behind some of those gag-inducing foods. TEXTURE. As it turns out, nearly every food I dislike is on the dislike list because of its texture. I don't like foods that are unreasonably mushy, slimy, or squeaky. In my opinion, vegetables should never be boiled or steamed. Mushrooms, cauliflower, brusssel sprouts, eggplant, and artichokes are never okay. I can't do tomatos unless they are in marinara or finely chopped salsa. I can't eat onions that are any larger than my pinky fingernail. I don't eat seafood.

I have added countless things to my food repertoire in the past few years. My expanded pallette combined with the fact that I choose what we eat for dinner nearly every night makes it pretty easy not to have run-ins with food that I don't like. Fortunately/unfortunately we sometimes get invited to other people's houses for dinner. I love having friends and I love food. The combination of eating and being with friends is pretty much the best ever. But sometimes, just sometimes, I still have anxiety about what the food is going to be if I'm not cooking it. Maybe they will serve me cauliflower soup! Maybe there will be a mushy-veggie filled souflet! Oh the worry! A couple of weeks ago we were invited to a brand new friend's house and, feeling guilty, I warned her that under no cicumstances could I eat seafood. She made us a delicious soup with salad and bread, but I still had to go through the anxiety of wondering what was on the menu, and the lame feeling of letting her know that there were things I couldn't eat.

My point is, it sucks being choosy about food. I wish I was one of those people that could eat anything and be happy about it but I'm not. I know that there are millions of children starving all over the world, and I advocate for them but I don't need to feel even more guilty about my eating problem! So friends, be aware of those finicky eaters in your life, know that they are not being difficult on purpose, and that they mean no offense to your food.

Oregon Coast

We stayed home on Valentine's Day this year. We've come to the conclusion over the years that it is so not worth it to go out when every other person and their dog is also out. We decided to take a trip over to Florence today to celebrate instead. We loved having beach access in Seattle but there was nothing like the wide expanse of beach that lines much of the Oregon coast.

We lucked out with a beautiful day, rainless, partly cloudy, moderately warm, and nearly wind free!
Hooray!

Ode to Seattle

I miss Seattle.

How could this be? I hated it. HATED IT. For 6 months straight all I wanted to do was leave and go home to Eugene. In June I started to like Seattle, I still would have preferred to live in Oregon but I was on good terms with the city. In September, when our return to Eugene was a certainty, I had finally reached the point where I could have continued to live in Seattle.

Don't get me wrong, I am so happy to be back here. I love Eugene. I love being so close to family and having a full social calendar. I love being in the fertile valley/Land of Zion.

So what's the problem?

I miss the food. Seattle has inumerable eating venues that we adored and the grocery stores were well stocked with organic/local produce. For us foodies, that's a big deal

I miss the salt, in the water that is. We lived minutes from Puget Sound where there was always a chance of seeing a harbor seal, sea lion, porpoise, or even a whale. I could go tidepooling whenever I wanted. I collected sea shells all of the time. I miss seeing boats everywhere and reading the names on the sides of them. Eugene has lots of fresh water but there is never that excitement that comes with the possibility of seeing a whale. A whale!

I miss the huge parks. Seattle is way more urban than Eugene, but surprisingly it has bigger and better parks. The parks are more diverse and more wild, with more wildlife in them.

I miss the local shopping. I'm not just talking about the availability of Nordy's, West Elm, and Anthro (which was great), I miss all the cute little local boutiques where I could get the best cards and gifts. There are never any good cards at Target.

I miss the opportunities. More jobs, more volunteer possibilities, more things to do. There were more reasons to leave the house.

I miss our landlords. I know that sounds funny, but we lived in our landlords' house. We saw them and interacted with them everyday. What started as an awkward "hey, we live in your basement," situation ended with tears and "we love you"s when we moved away.


We know that Eugene is the right place for us to be right now. We can afford to live here comfortably while Ricky is just starting out his career, we can be near to family and friends when we have our first baby, and we can be here to support our younger siblings.

We are Oregonians and we always will be, but some day in the future, when we have more money and more years under our belt, we may be Oregonians that live in Seattle.

Thanks Seattle, for becoming my friend.