A Life Less Ordinary

Feels Like Home

by Helen

Dear Irene,

Interesting that you say that Berkeley feels like home to you and SF doesn't. I'm not actually sure if UCLA ever felt like home because I never really left home. Anytime I needed anything, I just went to Porter Ranch and got it and there was definitely comfort in that. I'm sure you know this, but I think that you benefited from leaving the house at the age of 18 and going on your first journey alone. It forced you to deal with loneliness, making friends, getting established in a much more real way than it made me deal with it.

Having now been in Seattle three years this week (wow), I definitely feel that Seattle is home. I know where to go, where to look and who to go places with. Going back to school was a big part of that I think, also building a home with Adam was key as well.

I hear you on the theater front. I sit on the board of the Seattle Rep Theater as an intern basically where I get to see the underbelly of the arts - the good, the bad, the ugly - and I don't think I am necessarily ready for that either. The magic of the theater absolutely gets altered and you have to face reality, make difficult decisions and then defend them not only to the actors but also the community at large. As a result of this experience, I don't think I want to sit on the theater board as a trustee, but rather pursue the younger crowd theater group called the Crew that focuses on bringing more people to the theater and sharing the experience with them. I think that's much more up my alley right now than sitting on the Board.

Engagement

By Helen

We lead a busy life.  Weekends book out far in advance and even a weeknight is tough to get scheduled sometimes.  So on Wednesday (October 20th or so), Adam asked if I wanted to go on a fall hike.  I said sure.  On Thursday, at Pub Club (a standing Thursday business school pub night), I was trying to schedule a Saturday meeting for our finance team and shared that we were going to go on a hike first and then I could meet.  Immediately some friends of mine invited themselves to join u on our hike and Adam said that's fine.  On Friday, I suggested the 3 options/invitation we had for Saturday night - pumpkin carving in Tacoma and there were rumblings of an MBA party.  However, Adam asked for a quiet night at home which sounded good to me because of our crazy schedules lately.

On Saturday, I had a group meeting on campus that was going to be done by 5. Adam asked that I call him on my way back so he could start figuring out dinner.  So I did.

When I showed up, I saw roses on the stairwell. And I heard some of my favorite country songs playing.  And as I walked up, I saw Adam in a suit standing amid lots of roses, candles and many many pictures in all shapes and sizes scattered around our dining room table.  There was also champagne and dark chocolate.  He walked me around the table where I found a wooden box.  Adam asked to borrow it. 

Then he got down on one knee and said that we've shared many memories together already, but it's just the beginning.  And will I spend the rest of my life with him? I said yes!

We ended the night at Crush.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Did I see it coming? I knew it was coming, but didn't know when.
2. Did I cry? No, but Adam did have Kleenex in his pocket just in case.
3. When is the wedding? We don't know yet. Sometime next year probably.
4. Where is the wedding going to be? LA, San Diego or Seattle
5. Is Crush a good place to go post engagement? Absolutely, they brought out champagne and dessert and were in general very enthusiastic.
6. Did Adam actually have all those pictures? No! He "borrowed" my computer since I have a nice folder of all pictures of us from the last 10 years.
7. Details about the ring? It's gorgeous. And it sparkles.
8. Did Adam ask my father? Yes he did. Turns out that my parents and my sister knew it was coming but when I called to tell them, they did a good job sounding surprised.

Simple Happiness

by Helen

Right before I moved to Seattle, Adam asked me what I would do to deal with the cold, dreary days (and nights) in the Pacific Northwest.  Well, the last week has been extraordinarily cold - in the high 20s, low 30s - which is unusual for Seattle.  It hasn't been raining as much, but the cold is tough.  Also, the days are really short.  On days when I'm on campus from 8am-5:30pm, I don't see the sun at all.  

So I got to go back to my answer to him from a couple of years ago.  I said I would have a warm house to come home to from a coffee shop, soup simmering on the stove and a happy attitude toward life because everything is well in the world.  I got to live that today.  It was nice. 

I will be even happier in 8 days when I'm on a plane to Belize. 

Life Outside the MBA

by Helen

The last couple of days, Adam and I got to do fun things around town.  

On Wednesday, I went to the Aveda Training Salon for a haircut which took a long time, but was cheap and worth it.  I also saw a classmate at Caffe Vita on the Hill, had a pulled pork sandwich at Paseo in Fremont and drinks at Six Arms. Adam and I had dinner at the Hunter's Club at the Sorrento Hotel which was lovely and they had great drinks! 

Yesterday, we tried a new Greek place, Alladin Gyro-Cery before we went to catch a modern ballet, Complexions at Meany Hall on campus.  It was a mix of modern music, more classical sounding music and U2 music. 

My Day In Court

by Helen 

At the end of July I got a parking ticket at Golden Gardens Park.  It was one of the hottest days of the year and I parked far away from the actual parking lot. Then I went to get a blanket and saw that there was a parking cop giving tickets to people parked in the lot. I asked her if it's free to park here and she said yes, as long as you are not here for longer than 3 hours.  So I parked but ended up parking in the HALF of the parking spaces that were reserved for cars with trailers.  Mind you, there was not a single trailer parked there, so you could see how I would be confused. When I parked, I saw the ticket cop still writing tickets and we even made eye contact, but granted she didn't look very happy.

Anyway, I went back to my friends on the beach and when I returned to my car I had a ticket on there for $38 to the City of Seattle.  I know the city is broke and all, but I really felt like I had a case of an angry ticket cop who let her job get to her personality.

So I decided to contest the ticket.  I called the court and they sent out paperwork for me to write a statement or show up in person. In California, I've used Ticketbust to contest speeding tickets, but they did all the work and I just paid.  Here, I was going to have to come up with the language and the argument. 

Long story short, with the move to the new place, my family in town, etc. I missed the due date for submitting a written statement so I went to court today for my preliminary hearing. I have been sick the last couple of days so taking a shower and getting dressed AND driving 2 miles to downtown (glad we moved so it wasn't 20 minutes of driving). 

I showed up and eventually was asked to follow a person in. I definitely thought I would be entering a court room with a judge wearing a robe.  Instead, it was the judge who called me and we sat in her office (I did see a robe, so she is legit I think) and we discussed my parking situation. She suggested that she can reduce my ticket to $10 and I agreed.  And that was that. 

Very anti-climactic. But I did get my ticket reduced. 

That was my excitement for the day. 

Two Years Later

by Helen

 

Another year has gone by and Adam and I celebrated our two year anniversary on July 31st-August 2, 2009.

On the 31st, we exchanged gifts, went to the Red Mill Burger place, walked around Magnolia Art Fair and watched ferries go by in Magnolia Park (oh and we stopped by a party). On Saturday, we drove out to Long Beach, WA where we stayed at Shelbourne Inn on the Washington Coast and had a great time accompanied with great food.  We came back to Seattle on Sunday refreshed and ready for the big move that's coming up on August 21.

Here is a quick snapshop of all the things we did in year 2:

1. Adam's birthday picnic at Alki Park
2. 2 couples we know got engaged
3. My grandparents visited and we went took them to Alki
4. Evergreen State Fair with corn dogs of course!
5. Weekend in Tahoe with great friends
6. Adam's parents visited
7. We carved pumpkins together - I made a pirate ship and Adam made a Barack Obama pumpkin
8. Great vacation on Kuaui that included a luau, horseback riding, a boat ride, snorkeling, hiking and eating awesome food
9. Shrek the Musical
10. Spring Awakening
11. Teatro Zinzanni 
12. La Reve
13. Play with Adam's parents when they were in town
14. Business school applications
15. Candy Cane Making Party
16. Our first Christmas Tree
17. New Years Party
18. Pet sitting in West Hollywood
19. Allison's Wedding
20. Rachel's Wedding at the Beverly Hilton
21. Eilene and JD's wedding in Las Vegas
22. My birthday in LA - tapas at AOC, drinks at O Bar and dancing
23. Snowboarding in Crystal with Zach and Danielle
24. Quality time in Seward Park
25. Trip to Victoria
26. Cheese festival
27. Valentine's Day at Kaspar's
28. Yellowstone
29. Lewis and Clark Caverns
30. In N Out in a Limo
31. Costumed scavenger hunt in Los Angeles (Adam was dressed as Woody and I was dressed as Barbie)
32. Bruins in Seattle Board, picnic, happy hour 
33. Kayaking to Golden Gardens 
34. Mariners Games
35. Deciding to move in together to a townhome in Capitol Hill!

Thank you for seeing me through a very difficult time in my life of preparing and applying to business schools.  Thank you for helping me get in, for supporting me all the way and for always being a shoulder to lean on.  Though I'm sure it wasn't the easiest of years, here is to hoping to many more together!

Life Without Work

by Helen

I am trying to figure out my life without work.  Today is the first day and it's going well so far. 

The goal for me is not to sit on the couch the whole 2 months that I have off. Though I may let myself do more of that this week in an attempt to help my ankle heal. 

Here is my plan so far: 

1 ) Plan my meals ahead and cook interesting, yummy, healthy food for breakfast, lunch and dinner (when I'm home anyway). Buy food for the week. 

2) Do an hour of apartment cleaning/organizing a day to help prepare for moving next month.

3) Look for apartment listings online this week and compile a list of places to go see this weekend with Adam or during the week by myself. 

4) See Harry Potter on Wednesday with friends.

5) Make serious progress on A Fraction of a Whole (bookclub read)

6) Begin statistics work to prepare for b-school.

7) Start figuring out what I need to do for my career center orientation which is coming up. 

I am hoping my ankle can be fixed sooner rather then later so I can get back on a work out routine. I have a workout class M-F that I plan to take from 9:30am-10:30am but it's no good with a gimpy ankle. Also I am excited to spend time with my friends who have kids and those who have flexible work schedules. Everyone says to take advantage of this time before school starts, so that's my plan. 

Dedicated to My Parents

by Helen

I sprained my ankle today while hiking.  Everything is fine, it just made for a somewhat painful 2000 foot decline from the mountain.  

But afterwards, Adam went to get me an ankle wrap and ice.  Here is the conversation we had while he was wrapping my ankle:

Adam: I think it takes a medical professional to make sure the wrap doesn't wrinkle.  You don't mind if it's wrinkled do you?

Me: I don't know if I mind or not...I've only ever had my ankle wrapped by medical professionals....

Silence in the room followed. 

Random Life Happenings

by Helen

Looks like I will be moving to the West Side to attend Foster.  Not sure which area yet - so far I have been told that Madison Park, Capitol HIll and Bell Town are all good places for me to live in order to go to school and have a relatively convenient commute to Microsoft.  I am excited to go apartment shopping, but will probably wait until the summer to do it. 

Last week, I had the pleasure of confirming my "citizenship" with the Social Security Administration office.  Apparently, when I became a citizen, I did not fill out a form that updated my records with SSA and so my financial aid could not be processed without that form filled out.  The building was a typical government looking establishment - hidden, cash only parking and incredibly dull looking.  While the people inside were relatively helpful, they were also very routine driven.  I guess you have to be in order to be good at that job.  

Speaking of financial aid, I am a little annoyed by the scholarship process and how it impacts waitlisted candidates.  Everyone knows that if you apply past the 2nd (or 3rd in some instances) round, then your chances at scholarship money get slimmer.  I understand that.  However, every business school admissions book talks about the recent strategy of schools to waitlist candidates that the adcom believes will not attend the school. So they do it to gage interest and if the candidate expresses desire to attend, then they let him/her into the school.  I appreciate that tactic as well.  

But what doesn't make sense to me is that when you get waitlisted, you are then moved to the next round and when you get off the waitlist, you are lumped with the said next round.  As a result - no scholarship money for you.  I totally understand how we get to this point, but there has go to be a way for those kinds of applicants to still get scholarship money somehow. 

The only advice I would have to applicants is to apply earlier.  If you get bumped from Round 1 to Round 2, your scholarship chances don't decrease. Easier said than done though. 

Additionally, a Foster student called me today and we had a lovely conversation about the school, classes, locations, etc.  She definitely was trying to feel me out to figure out if I was planning on attending the admit weekend and the school.  So I was very straight with her and told her that I am attending Admit Weekend and I will go to Foster unless I miraculously get off the waitlist for Stanford. And then I heard dead silence at the other end of the line.  Maybe I shouldn't have said that? But I feel that every Admissions Committee person would understand the position I am in.  Though replaying the conversation in my head, I probably should have been more vague and less straightforward.  Maybe they'll teach me how to do that better in business school.  

Anyway, the current student shared with me that she took a stats course before starting school and that really helped her.  She said Accounting was the other big topic but many students come in with zero accounting so its not as big of a deal.  She said to definitely not take calculus. 

Good News!

by Helen

I got the call and email today welcoming me to University of Washington (Foster).  For those wondering, all I did was call the school and inform them of my interest as well as send them an email restating why Foster is for me.

This is a huge relief because I really liked Foster and I think it's a better fit for me than Georgetown.  It also costs a great deal less due to in-state tuition and for jobs in the Northwest it beats GT.  I am going to think things over, but most likely submit my deposit to Foster after I get my packet.

I am of course still holding out for Stanford, but if that doesn't pan out, I will be very happy at Foster for the next two years.