Last week, Dan and I had our dancing shoes polished and prepped to see Raphael Saadiq in Portland. It was a big deal, tickets weren't that cheap, it was a school night, but it was going to be so worth it.... Canceled! So disappointed, but because I had already planned to take the night off we had a special little date night. So what did we do instead?

Rollerskating in Springfield...the rink hasn't changed since the 70s, and it happened to be 2$ Christian Rock music night! Didn't quite make up for our loss, but definitely helped ease the pain.

busy weeks make for great weekends

We had a great weekend after a very busy week. Dan served on the jury for a two-week murder trial and I had midterms. Here's the weekend run down:

We had our studio review in Portland,




After which Dan drove up to meet me, we rented a room at a super cool hotel.



We then got to spend the evening with lovely Anna and Daniel


Top it off with terrific vegan breakfast, temple trip, and Saturday night bowling with the Cahoons

Halloween

As you can see from my previous post, I have been keeping busy, which means I have had no time to anticipate the great holiday that is Halloween. It is the waiting that makes holidays so special, and this year Halloween just snuck up on us.

Dan and I were in the studio Saturday night, when at 9:30pm I said, enough, let's go celebrate. Obviously we hadn't prepared, so we were costumeless, and we really didn't feel like going to party. So we decided to go home, put on a homemade outfit, and walk to the grocery store to buy ingredients for pumpkin cookies.

We very well could have pulled a fast one and worn our outfits from last year, but what's the fun in that? So Dan came up with a brilliant idea....to put on your clothes of one color and say you are that color!

Behold...mustard yellow and purple.

The best part is that these could potentially be real outfits, and we could potentially be a weird couple that likes to coordinate, so our response to the several, "what the hell are you supposed to be" comments was...nothing, we don't dress up for Halloween. Hahaha. Oh i love being married to Dan, I have learned the fine art of doing things just for sheer self amusement.

spreading myself thin...just how i like my pancakes

Some of you may be curious about my previous post on the excitement of graduate school opportunities, so here is some of what I was referring to.

I am currently working with two professors the first job is trying to streamline the department with using online portfolios, and encouraging students to begin getting their work online.

The second job I started last week and it entails doing some research for very interesting projects. In a nutshell, we are looking at LEED certified schools, measuring classroom performance compared to traditional, older school models. My professor is working on a few other projects as well, but I will talk about those later when things start rolling...basically it's a lot of interest in "green" architecture which I is great b/c that is why I came to Oregon.

I am really excited to be working with both of these professors, they are fantastic and I respect them both immensely, and to top it off they are both paid positions.

Also, as per encouragement from a professor, I am submitting a paper to the National Solar Conference. It is for a project myself and three other students worked on last Winter. We basically studied water trombe walls and how effective they would be for passive heating.

Also, next term I will be a graduate teaching fellow, I am really excited for this opportunity because I would like to eventually teach. GTFs at UO get all the perks...free tuition, a pay check, and health insurance.

...and on the side I am heading up Public Relations for the AIAS UO chapter.

So that's it, a lot of neat opportunities outside the normal classroom setting. The downside is personal time is now really limited, but I figure so is my time here at school, so better take advantage.

Today I was minding my own business, cutting chipboard for a model, when all of a sudden someone behind me mentions something interesting. So I quickly turn around to look, and while my body turns, my cutting hand does as well, and slices right through my finger, taking out a good chunk.

I drew a sketch of what I thought my finger would look like after healing so I could show Dan without removing my bandaid (It's the bottommost sketch).


That may be slightly exaggerated, but its still ugly.

The People's Bathroom

This is the bathroom closest to my studio. What makes it so special? Notice there is no boy/girl indication, it's for the people...of all genders. Most of you may not be surprised by this sort of thing, but after spending four years of your life at BYU, trust me it's news. I lived in a dorm in which the men had to be in a completely separate building...this is a big leap from that.

So the big question is, do I use it? Of course I use it!! I don't really think of the restroom as my private time, and I don't think it is something to be shy about. I have even carried on handwashing conversations with guy friends. Although I don't quite think I am ready for professor contact...that may take time.

This weekend Dan and I jumped at an opportunity to go to The Shire. The Shire is 75 acres of landscape, set aside by John Yeon, an Oregon Architect. Yeon loved the Columbia River Gorge and wanted to protect it from logging, so he bought this land and upon his death donated it to the University of Oregon. It is private property and access is very limited, so we were lucky.

Yeon loved Multnomah falls, and so at every 'viewing point' along his 75 acres, he has carved out a view of the falls.

The Gorge

The Shire

To make the trip even better, we had perfect weather, found pear trees, and I was able to watercolor.