Also, I know I promised pictures of the apartment. And it’s finally clean! I can’t have the entirety of the internet thinking I’m a giant slob or something. But I was sick all day today and it’s still not up to par, unpacking-wise, yet. Soon, soon. I promise.

Other things of interest: the Job is okay. Not terrible, not great. In all honesty, the people are awesome. They really are. And I have my own office, which is pretty cool (but lonely!). I shelve books, sort books, throw books away, and check books out. I mean, I love books. I do. I think that I’d like it better if the books were interesting. But they’re not. And I freeze all day and I’m stuck in an office all by myself. But it could be much, much, much worse. It pays well enough, and, like I said, my co-workers are awesome. I just wish I had a little more people time! And it’s not all boring all the time – we have lots of parties. Lots. And, yesterday, Hillary Clinton stopped by.

I’m going to let that sink in.

Continuing. Yes. I still can’t believe it. I mean, how many people can say that the Secretary of State was in their building yesterday? I guess that’s one of the perks at working at a school made for cranking out state department workers. And spies. Oh, yeah. I should mention that too – one of our professors was just sentenced to life in prison for spying for Cuba. I work in a freaking spy school.

Okay. Like I said, it’s not all boring all the time. Just when I’m stuck in my freezing cold office by myself destroying my soul because I’m throwing away books.

>.>
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In other news, Eric and I have settled in nicely. It’s wonderful to finally have our own space and make it, well, home. And it’s definitely becoming a home, which I am thrilled about. I’ve lived in 5 places in four years and I’m so sick of moving and leaving and I just want to stay here for more than a year. I think we will. We love it, the cats are happy (even Phoebe! She’s become such a little snugglebug) and the building is fantastic. I couldn’t ask for more. Unless there was a balcony involved. Then I’d be all over that.

It’s also nice to finally be on our own. Like we’re actually adults or something. While we’re both pretty homesick for Columbus, I love living here in DC. I love the opportunities that we have, and I love that we’re together.

Pictures next time, I promise. For now, enjoy the view that we have from our rooftop deck:

Like I said, it’s great to be here.

I will post pictures of our apartment soon, and give more of an update later. We’re still unpacking and about to head to the grocery store.

But rest assured all, everything is swell on this end, and I haven’t forgotten about bookish. I’ve just been busy working, painting, unpacking, and seeing my family and a few friends.

For example, we were at Trader Joe’s today. On the way home, we drove past a little farmstand. I said, “Look, we’ll have to go there!”

Eric: “When?”

Me: “Oh. Right. We’re leaving.”

This happens a lot, lately. It’s now added to the “Things I wish I had done while living in Ohio”, along with going to see both the Columbus Crew and Bluejackets, eating at Northstar Cafe, the drive-in theatre in German Village, and visiting the Ohio Village.

I’ve made a list of places to visit before we go. This list includes, but is not limited to: Mirror Lake, North Market, Jeni’s (which has a stand in North Market so that’s like … two birds with one stone), The Old Mohawk, the Book Loft, the Park of Roses, and Moy’s, because I’m pretty sure there’s no better place for Chinese food in the entire world.

Really, though, the thing that I’ll miss the most, outside of school and Buckeye football and food, is, of course, my friends. I’ll miss working with Isabelle, nerding out about medieval things, and showing up quite often in practically matching outfits. I’ll miss Lee, who, even though she’s been in Cleveland for the past year, has always been a really good friend. I’ll miss goofing off with the best roommates ever – Tricia will be in Japan, I’ll be in DC and Alice and Rachael will be here. I’ll miss our parties, our dinners, our let’s hang-out-and-watch-Walker-Texas-Ranger-just-because-it’s-on-days. I’ll miss Sam and Sascha, because I had to mess up our becoming “real” friends by graduating and getting a job and moving far away. I’ll miss Drew and our adventures. I’ll miss Isaac being Isaac. I’ll miss Caitlin and our lunches and talks.

Everyone better come visit me in DC!

I’m such a sap.

Seriously though, this next week will be pretty bittersweet. Lots of packings and goodbye – and this time, seven days from now, I’ll be in a new home in a new city with a new job. It’s exciting and sad, all at the same time. I’ll be pretty busy, so I won’t have time to blog again (even though I’ll try to squeeze in work on the new theme) before we’re all settled in.

See you guys on the other side!

The past two weeks, since my graduation, have been pretty crazy. There’s been surgery and family drama (which I’m not going to go into, because I don’t want to upset anyone who might be involved who can read this – but I WILL say that I’m very upset with how my family is treating each other right now. I do not approve). There’s also been two interviews, a job offer, my first cheesesteak in over a year (!), and a super awesome trip to DC.

I guess I’ll start with the surgery? I had my gallbladder taken out (finally) the day after I graduated. My mom stuck around for a few days to take care of me, which was super nice. I was pretty out of it for a few days, and my incisions are still pretty gross looking, but hey. Chicks dig scars, right? AND I’ve been able to eat normally again – I haven’t gotten sick once. It’s incredible.

Then, that Friday, I had an interview – over the phone, since I was only four days post-surgery – which went smashingly well. So well that they called me two hours later to ask if I could make it to DC for a second interview before the week was over. Which is how Eric and I ended up in DC on Thursday.

DC was fantastic. I had my interview at 10:30, and everyone was super nice, and even though the library was under renovation, I loved it. We grabbed lunch with one of my best friends, who I hadn’t seen since Christmas. It was the first time that she and Eric had met, and I was so happy that they liked each other. Afterwards, we went up to the Smithsonian. I was a little disapointed that they changed the Hall of the First Ladies, but whatevs, because by 3:00 I got a phone call telling me the job was mine and I could start July 19 AND they’re paying me more money than I asked for!!! Hooraayyy!!!

So yes, ladies and gents, I am no longer an unemployed college graduate. With a degree in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, no less. Eric and I jumped up and down and called our families and ended up going to the hotel to dump our stuff so we could get a nice dinner. The hotel was great, we booked through Hotwire and ended up staying at the Hyatt Regency for $80.

The next morning, Eric and I looked at apartments. We only checked out three places – the first was super far from everything, the second was a complete dump, and the last one – the one we went to on a whim because I liked the pictures online and we didn’t want to live at option a or b – was perfect. It ended up being more expensive than the others, but not much, and it’s so much nicer. The leasing agent showed us around (there’s a pool, a workout center, a connivence store, and rooftop decks with views of the Washington monument) and we were pretty much sold. I think we made the decision in about five minutes that this was the one. It’s a one bedroom, with a dishwasher, tons of closets, and a shuttle to the Metro station. We move in July 17!

After that, we headed up to my parents’ townhouse outside of Philadelphia. The three hour trip ended up taking 7, thanks to traffic between DC and Baltimore and us not really knowing our way around. We made it back to Ohio on Saturday evening and I’ve been absorbing everything that’s happened ever since.

So yeah. Things have definitely improved in Jenny-land. Next up? A new theme for this place. I’m sick of looking at this one and I have a brand spanking new one almost finished. It’s unlike pretty much anything I’ve done before, and I can’t wait to get it live!

I remember thinking that I couldn’t wait to be 18. Nancy was 18, and she was a real grown-up. She had a super cool car, a boyfriend, a dog, and a really cool job solving mysteries. What could be better?

18 came and went. I didn’t feel like a grown up. Then 19. Then 20. Then 21. Now I’m 22, seven days away from graduating from Ohio State, seven months after I finally decided what I want to do with my life (be a professor and a medievalist and the authority on Le Roman de Melusine), and three months after all of those plans were put by the wayside since, hey, things didn’t exactly go according to plan when every one of the six grad schools I applied to said, “No thanks.”  I finished my last class of undergrad on Thursday, finished the first version of my article (that my professor wants us to publish! more on that later) on Friday, and I don’t have any finals.

I still don’t have a car, but I do have a boyfriend who, in my opinion, is even better than Ned Nickerson. I don’t have a dog, either: somehow I’ve turned into the crazy cat lady of Patterson Ave (well, I live in a house full of them. So I guess technically we’re the house full of crazy cat ladies on Patterson). The mysteries I solve, lately, come in the form of puzzling out dates, authors, and timelines from obscure footnotes on late 14th century France.

I’m okay with that. Even though I would like a dog and Eric said no to getting one. But I digress.

My point with all of this is this: I think I’ve passed a lot of the “grown-up” markers, and my life doesn’t exactly look like I had expected it to. Sure, I’m moving to Washington, D.C. with the man I love more than anything and two cats, but I’ll be unemployed until I can find a job there. I’m no closer to figuring out what I’m “supposed” to do with my life than I was when I was seven; I thought I had a plan, and then I didn’t get into school and Eric did and we decided that I’d wait to apply again until he finished school and got a job.

The only difference between then and a week from now will be 15 years of school,  two diplomas, and the absolute peak that my nerdiness could ever reach: examining medieval manuscript leaves in a Lord of the Rings-themed pizzeria at the Medieval Congress. True story.

On the bright side, my advisor and I revised the first version of my paper (the culmination of my 2 years of research) and we decided to turn it into a 25-30 page article. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish it by July, and she wants me to submit it for publishing. Which is like, super-super cool. I won’t go into the details here, because I know that I’m researching an obscure 14th century romance that no one that reads this knows or cares about, but still.  AWESOME.

In short, I’m excited and sad and ecstatic and apprehensive about graduating and moving on and getting a job and leaving Columbus, all at the same time.

It’s going to be an interesting summer, that’s for sure.

It’s a little terrifying, to say the least. I’ve been so busy with school and work that I’ve barely had any time at all to blog. Seeing as I very well may be unemployed (other than finishing out my last quarter as a student employee at OSU), I may have more time pretty soon.

Yeah. No one seems to want to hire me. I’ve sent out probably close to 70 applications. I’ve had two interviews, and two rejections. This last one really upset me, because I knew I was perfect for the job and I tried SO HARD to communicate that to them. Apparently they only offered 3 people (including me) and interview, and they decided to go with someone else. Part of me wonders if it’s because I graduate late and I don’t have a definite moving date – though I told them I could start the Tuesday after graduation, if I needed to.

It’s just so frustrating. Especially since all that I really, TRULY want to do is to go to grad school and be a “real” medievalist and teach and research and write. That’s why I thought that this last position would be great – I’d be working in an academic library, and they really encourage their employees to go back to school and stuff.

Someone has to hire me, right?

I guess there’s always retail?

Anyway, we’re looking in Arlington, since it’s convenient to the Metro and close to Georgetown. (There’s even a shuttle that Eric can take to school, which is nicer than him having to walk it every day.) It’s so expensive, especially coming from a place like Columbus, where I pay $375 + utilities a month for my room in a huge house with a basement for storage, two cats, front and back porches, and a yard. In Arlington, we’re  looking at spending from $550-800 a month + utilities each for a one bedroom apartment. Unfortunately, since we aren’t moving until mid-July or August, we won’t know what’s even available until June, at the earliest.

It’s a little stressful, to say the least. I’ve put together a list of things that we need in an apartment, and I’m not going to budge on:

• washer/dryer in apartment or laundry in building
• two cats allowed (because we for sure are getting a kitten! More on that in a bit)
• walking distance to GUTS line/Metro (I walk 25 minutes to class now, so ‘walking distance’ for us is probably a bit further than for others!)
• Let it be CLEAN (no mice or roaches) and in a nice neighborhood.
• Under $1500/month

There are some things that I would love to have, but are nowhere near necessary:

• separate dining room area (or at least a place to put a table and chairs)
• balcony/patio/sunroom/yard
• dishwasher
• fireplace
• walking distance to Georgetown (we’d have to live in Rosslyn)

Then there are some things that I would love love love to have, but I’m 90% sure I won’t be able to find in our price range:

• Two bedrooms/den
• New appliances
• A pretty view
• A one bedroom that meets my first list in Georgetown itself.

I don’t think that I’m asking for that much, and I’m sure we’ll be able to find something. I’m just so excited to be graduating and moving to a new city and actually having my own apartment to call home. It’s so grown up. I just hope that I can find a job! I’m thinking it may be easier once I’m actually in DC, too. I’m not sure people are taking my applications seriously when I have an Ohio zipcode!

Also, in fuzzier news, we are for sure adopting this little cutie. He’s eight weeks old right now, and his name is Theodore Roosevelt. We call him Teddy.

You can’t really tell from this picture, but he was born with a genetic condition that made his right eye much smaller than the other. Right now, it’s infected, but he’s on steroids and antibiotics, and the infections is pretty much cleared up and his eye has even grown a bit. I guess, before, some of his eye socket was exposed because his eye was so small, which is how it became infected, but it’s much bigger than that now. Anyway, the vet said that it might always be a little smaller than his left eye, but it’ll grow to be almost normal by the time he’s a year old. They’re almost positive that he can see out of it, even if his depth perception is a little off. Isabelle, my friend who’s giving him to us, is going to hold on to him until we can take him – either when we move or if my roommates decide it’s okay to take him. In that case, we wouldn’t get him until the middle of May at the earliest, just so she can make sure that his eye is okay and everything.

He’s so super sweet and snuggly. He likes to climb on shoulders and sit there, and he fell asleep on both Eric and me almost instantly.  Eric’s totally in love with him. I’m just happy that he’s so sweet!

Tavi kept sniffing him and making his “I don’t know what this is or if I like it” growl that he made when we got Phoebe, my roommate’s cat. I’m not too worried about it – Tavi’s like a grumpy old man. He was pissy for three days when we first adopted her, and now they’re best buddies. He’s a miserable, whiny pain when he’s lonely, so we’re doing this for his own good and our sanity.

So yeah. Things have been busy around here, to say the least.  I can’t believe I graduate in 48 days!

So here are ten things, in no particular order, that I am thankful for…

1. Eric. I really don’t know what I’d do without him – he’s always there for me, no matter what, and I love him more than I can say. Also, he is a cute and sweet and super smart and soon to be a grad student at Georgetown!
2. Being a Buckeye!
3. My oldest friends: Katie, Sarah, and Tory have been my best girls for most of my life (!) and I love them to bits.
4. My parents. I’m thankful that they were young parents; they were so much fun when I was a kid, and still are pretty awesome now.
5. My siblings. I don’t always get along with them, or see them that often because of school, but I love my gingers and wouldn’t trade them for anything
6. My Tavi-cat. I think it’s safe to say that he picked me and I’m his person.
7. The friends that I’ve made at OSU – most especially my super awesome roommates. I’m sad that I’m going to be leaving them soon.
8. I’m thankful for spring!
9. The opportunity to go to Girls’ Nation in high school.
10. The chance to start over in a whole new city in a few months!

*sigh*

I’m much better in person than I am on paper, I swear. Hopefully Rutgers, Cornell, or Catholic will appreciate that. If not … I guess that there’s always next year.

In better news, Eric was accepted into Georgetown! I’m so proud of him, and thrilled for him – even if I don’t get into grad school, I know that we’re going to be okay. I’ll find something to do in DC, I’m sure of it. He’s worked really, really, hard for this and I know that he deserves it.

I keep trying to think of things that I could do, things that I’m good at besides school, though, just in case. It’s not a very nice thing to think about – but I’m going to need to do something if I don’t get into grad school at all.

Also,  I fixed what was broken in the theme.  Firefox wasn’t recognizing certain elements of HTML5, so they needed to be defined in the CSS like this:

article { display:block;}

to display properly.  Good to know!