catching up, or, our friends jeff and linnea

Hello world. I've missed you.

I was doing so well there for a while, wasn't I? Humming along, almost keeping up with my resolution to blog once a week. But then it happened. Summer.

I'm really, really hoping to make time to post individually about all of these adventures, but just in case here are some of the things we've been up to since oh, you know. May:

• A week (for me) and a weekend (for Ross) in NYC
• I said goodbye to the kids at Prospect Learning Center (I've worked and/or volunteered there for three years!!). Their school is closing and they're all getting sent to other schools. It's a whole big, stupid thing
• We hiked the Billy Goat Trail over Memorial Day weekend
• We went camping in a new and extremely surprising campground
• We celebrated Swedish Midsummer (my new favorite holiday)
• We visited Ross' grandparents and parents, my sister, and one of my dearest friends in Chicago
• We celebrated the 4th of July with BBQ, Hungarian dancing, and fireworks viewed from the 12th floor of an apartment building

And this is just the fun stuff, folks. This summer, I'm also wading through a list of 50 books in preparation for my qualifying exam, which I'll take at the end of August/beginning of September. For work, I've been doing some dog walking. I have three regular clients, and I frequently do weekend pet-sitting, as well. Ross just started a six month long construction rotation for his job, which means he's no longer in the state highway administration office but out on a site. Mostly it's been great, although he's no longer allowed to do four ten-hour days, which means he's working Fridays again. 

(Side note: I knew we were busy, but it really sounds like a lot when I list it all out like that!)

Like I said, I'll try to post more on all of these things soon. Before I do that, though, I want to go even farther back in to April (although like any good story, that means going farther back still. I was born on a hot day in July of 1986... Just kidding. But I will go back to February)

Back in February, our  friends, Jeff and Linnea, moved into our church congregation ("ward" for the uninitiated). I could write a long "getting to know them" story, but suffice it to say that they live just a few blocks from us and we quickly realized that we *love* them. How could we not? 

Photo by Rachel May Clarke

Many of the above-mentioned activities were experienced in Jeff and Linnea's fine company. Friendship bonus: Linnea is a really talented photographer (and her post about the questions/comments she hears all the time is required reading for all). Friends with a sense of adventure and a keen photographic eye: it's a good combination. 

I imagine Linnea's work will feature here frequently in the future, but I quickly wanted to post two of our April adventures. Linnea has already written great posts about these, so I'm mostly just going to share the photos.

Cherry Blossom Parade

Three years in, and this was my first cherry blossom parade! Here are just a few photos (again, all of these were taken by Linnea); see the rest on her blog. I will point out that I left early and got us the awesome seats! Just sayin'.

Shakespeare's Birthday

Guys. I live down the street from the Folger Shakespeare Library, and it's amazing. 364 days out of the year you have to have a reader's card to get into the library proper (guess who has one!), but one magical day, anyone can come explore the library and celebrate Elizabethan culture (in ways both scholarly and gleefully anachronistic). That day is Folger's birthday, and it was the BEST (I'm told I overuse the word "favorite," but this really was my favorite day. So fun). Again, see Linnea's (much more thorough) write-up here. I'm just borrowing pictures :)

We learned about Renaissance-era combat techniques and fighting schools from the Most. Passionate. Person. In. The. Universe (the gentleman on the right holding the stick*).

*"Stick" is surely not the right word for this.

We explored the reading room! I work here, guys! 

In the newer reading room we got to make "lace" ruffs.

Outside the theater, the Renaissance Man had us (and the assembled kids, but honestly mostly the grown-ups) dying. I want to make up an event so I can hire him.

Thanks so much for documenting these adventures so beautifully, Linnea. Mostly, thanks to you and Jeff for being such adventurous friends. I'm thinking Harper's Ferry next. Eh? 

emails with spouses

Greetings from the other side of finals! As always, it was a rough few weeks (maybe someday I'll figure out how to keep finals from being a tortuous and miserable ordeal?), but it all ended well, with a 4.0, some really kind and helpful comments on my papers from my professors, and a trip to New York (pictures forthcoming). And even the misery of actually writing and slogging through was eased somewhat by my fabulously funny and supportive spouse. As an example, here's an actual email exchange, reproduced here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

Monday, April 29 at 1:01pm  

Haylie Swenson to Ross Dewey

Subject: Hey you

Email me, okay? It would do me good to hear your (digital) voice. 

Love lots, 

me 

Monday, April 29 at 1:43pm

Ross Dewey to Haylie Swenson

Subject: RE: Hey you

Uh…you’re really putting me on the spot. You know how that shuts me down. I never know what to say when I’m asked to say something, but I’ll give it my best shot. I’m reminded of one of my childhood memories. It was last summer, and we were celebrating the joyous day commemorating the birth of my spouse. As you may recall, in fact, you were my adoring spouse at the time. There was good food and good company to be had in plenty at the ever-busy Good Stuff. Having already given up the cow for some time, you may not recall just how good Good Stuff can be when augmented by the succulent flavor of bacon, beef, barbecue sauce, cheese, and onion rings combined in the Coletti style. I digress. As I was saying, a very special birthday occasioned the event, and indeed there was nothing to disappoint. Following the main course, of course, we enjoyed the immensely enjoyable artistic stylings of the Brothers Cohen in the form of the classic Homer’s Odyssey, accompanied by very well-intentioned yet lackluster brownies. Lest, however, by my own selfish elocution I entirely miss the window of opportunity for spousal communication and support given me by the distant plea of my favorite little voice, I must now draw on the powers granted by the underrated god of brevity as I come to my point. Which is thusly: such good times as were had then, must surely increase tenfold in less than the time it takes the moon to cycle from shy to bold. In more universally known terms, your time of bondage will be interrupted by a brilliant burst of freedom in less than 388,800 seconds. With this in mind, and with the remote yet powerful support of your beloved, you must now persevere. And so onward. Huzzah!

Thanks, Ross. I couldn't have done it without you. Onward to summer! Huzzah!

morning mnemonic

As I biked to campus very early this morning I found myself frantically worrying that I would forget one of the many things I have to do today (finals are upon us, DUN DUN DUHHHHH). Biking is hard that way: it's not like I can write things down as I think of them. So, naturally, I made up a song. Enjoy.

To the tune of "Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh" (or "Dance of the Hours" if you're fancy like that)

Email Jeffrey.
Email Jason.
Email David.
Email Ali.
Email France
Re: the request
Fix the syllabus and then you're done, I guess.

Happy Wednesday.

 

charmed

I took this picture (which I realize now seems like product placement but isn't meant to be) a week ago. Ross was leaving the next morning for Portland and the weather was beautiful, so we decided to take a walk down to the United States Botanic Garden. It took us about fifteen minutes to get there, and then we sat surrounded by flowers and blossoms and watched the Capitol glow*.

We lead charmed lives, and I'm very grateful.


*Sometimes, like today, I'm pretty annoyed by all that goes on in the Capitol, but I still love the building and how it stands for us at our best and worst. 

the saga of the cherry blossoms

Day One, Saturday, last week.

Close, but no cigar. See all the unopened trees behind us? Still, the day was lovely and due to be warm, and we vowed to come back the next evening. Would there be any progress?

Day Two, Sunday

Nope.

Day Three, Tuesday.

Determined and solo, I got up early and biked to the tidal basin. Success!

Oh, Cherry Blossoms. You're so much trouble, and so, so worth it. See you next year.

life lately

also...

Because my old template is hopelessly out of date, I'm making some changes to the blog. I'm very much self-taught when it comes to these things, so let me know what you think!

inauguration 2013

Just some photos from the Inauguration. You remember... the one that happened in January? Ross stayed home (cold. crowds), but I braved the Mall and, in spite of bad weather and the masses of people and the incredible difficulty of getting home, I'm glad I did. It felt good to physically participate in a political event. It felt like what living in DC is for.

(Besides, we did vote for the guy :)

Expect more catching up-type posts in the near future. In the meantime, have a wonderful week!

penny pinching

So next week is Spring Break, and I'm not going anywhere this year, which means I have all week long to stay home and work hard. This is great, actually, as I have a lot to do, but at the moment it just means that I've completely lost my carefully cultivated sense of urgency. To that end, here is a list of stuff I've been saving up for recently. None of these things are expensive--or at least they don't have to be--but none of them are truly necessary, either. I think that's a good combination: it's fun to save up and anticipate, and these things are cheap enough that they're within reach. Win.

1. A cozy flannel shirt

2. A manicure (fun fact: the last time I had a manicure was a few days before my wedding)

3. Fake glasses. I know 

4. This fake tattoo, because even though my sister-in-law gave me one a few Christmases ago, once is never enough for a rabbit smoking a pipe

5. This album

6. These shoes (which, thanks to the unbelievable generosity of a dear friend with a store credit, are actually on their way!)

7. A simple pair of sleek black tights

One of my favorite bloggers does a series called make-believe, where she imagines outfits or tools for certain activities and places. If this were my own make-believe series, this would be called "Moving to Austin."

margaritaville

(Note: This is the final post in a series on our December roadtrip. See the whole epic journey, from DC to Austin to New Orleans to the Everglades to Key West and home, here)

Although Key West wasn't exactly what we expected (I think we expected a charming, small-town feel, whereas Key West is much more boozy and tourist), we really loved exploring it. We were there for three nights, and quickly established some habits, the most important of which was the sunset. 

Every night the tourists (and lots of locals, actually), gather at Mallory Square to watch the sun go down and ogle the cruise ship. My favorite (to my chagrin) was the Disney ship. I can't help it: I'm a child of Orange County, and while the characters and kitsch don't do much for me, I'm always impressed with Disney's attention to detail.  

Anyway. That was definitely a digression about Disney (alliteration!). Mallory Square always had lots of scrappy street performers. Also, note the mix of sweatshirts and short sleeves. It was that kind of weather.

Sunset #1!

One of the things Key West is known for is its wild chickens (Seriously: see this quirky website). Apparently the city is somewhat split on the chickens, and they have lots of fans and detractors. We were fans.

On our first full day we went to visit the Key West cemetery and came across a hen with eight (eight!) chicks. Obviously, we watched them for a long, long time, as these ten pictures probably indicate. You're welcome.  

(This next photo is my favorite)

At one point, Mama Hen decided it was time to settle down, and within less than a minute all nine chicks disappeared under her wings.

As you can imagine, Key West is colorful and beautiful (in a well-worn, beach bum kind of way). Although there's a lot to do in the town, at this point in our trip we were pretty tired, and I was still feeling pretty crummy, so we spent most of our time just walking. It was wonderful.

Sunset #2!

I call this rooster Paul Newman.

Our second full day in Key West was Christmas day! We celebrated by calling our families and reading in the sun by the heated pool. Let me just say, there are far worse ways to celebrate.

Sunset #3! My favorite sunset. Because of Christmas. And pirates.

After Key West, we drove up to Savannah where we ate at Cracker Barrel (because our roadtrip didn't feel complete without it) and spent a pleasant morning in the town. And then we came home! Our roadtrip was exhausting and driving-intensive, and I'm not sure it's something we'd do in the same way again, but we're both glad we did it. We saw parts of the country neither of us had ever seen before, ate some great food, spent time with and met some wonderful people, and saw some intimidating and charming animals. I even wrote a paper. All in all, it was a grand American adventure.