Snowpocalypse 2014

Last week on Friday it sleeted. In Florida. Granted, this is lower Alabama, but it typically doesn't sleet here. I joked about wanting a snow day. I didn't intend for it to happen. Especially not three. I definitely did not want it to happen while I was on duty. So let's talk about Snowpocalypse 2014.

University announced on Monday that the campus would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Well great. Sleet, freezing rain, and snow were all in the forecast along with icy roads that the state is not prepared for. Naturally, being from the North, I was not worried about these conditions. Tuesday I venture out for dinner (Mellow Mushroom... delish) and then to a movie. Well the theater was closed. Fail. Thanks Pensacola. At least MM was open. In the end it all worked out for the best.

Wednesday gets here, and I get myself out of bed to watch Good Morning America. Well apparently this crazy weather is big enough news that the local news stays on and they don't play GMA. Instead I'm subjected to pictures of ice and icy roads and listening to people who have never witnessed such a phenomenon. Highly disappointed. So I looked outside, found that it was super pretty, and decided to go on an adventure. Campus looked awesome. I walked around for two and a half hours. Then I ventured out to Panera for lunch. Roads were slippery, but it was nothing new to me (I was more worried about other drivers).

As I'm walking out of Panera, I hear the infamous (and cringe-worthy) duty phone ringtone. Burst pipe and a ceiling issue. Been there done that. No heat. Well damn. Let's open shelter. A whole lot of other issues and a night full of rounds (still ongoing). Well it's been fun. I got nearly every major issue all in one day. Record. And learned some awesome code speak... 'Tony has the torch'.... still don't know what that means.

Needless to say, it's been one interesting day. Another snow day tomorrow (which is really today now). These are things I didn't expect to happen in FLORIDA. I realized I love weather like this so I definitely need to move north (where they're better prepared for this weather. Well, just prepared in general). I also never thought I would need a jacket or gloves in Florida. So I have neither and mostly I wish I had gloves. Thankful I have a hat, and glad I look cute in it. I also enjoyed my photo adventure today and realized I've missed taking pictures. So I leave you with this photo evidence of snowpocalypse 2014:

If you're wondering about the DG Photography... it's a long story dating back to high school.

Stay warm, Florida. By which I mean, get warm because I'd like to sleep instead of dealing with issues.

The Packing Chronicles, Part 3, Final Installment

Read: The Packing Chronicles, Part 1
          The Packing Chronicles, Part 2

The Packing Chronicles, Part 3

The Final Installment

Packed, Moved, and Adjusting

It's been a couple of weeks. I'm not only all packed, but all moved. Where to, you ask? Well, not Hawaii, that's for sure. I finally heard from them (via snail mail) and they selected another candidate. It sucks, yes, but I'm over it, honestly. So I've moved in with friends just outside of Pensacola. I'm staying there until August, and after that it's all up in the air. In the meantime I'm working at Panera Bread and also at UWF (Housing gave me a job until I find something else). So if August rolls around and I'm still without a job (by which I mean still with only my two current jobs and no other offer) then I guess I'm sticking around Pensacola, but just not sure where.

Packing went well. I have more stuff than I thought and have realized that not everything will fit in my car at once. Not sure how I will move when the time comes. Things to be determined when I know where I am moving to.

The Two Job Lifestyle

It's not pretty and it's not glamorous. That is for sure. It's not like I haven't done this before. I enjoy it overall. Two days a week I work only at UWF from 8-5. Normal. The other three days I usually start my work day at Panera at 5 AM and work until 1. I then work at UWF from 2-5:30. Since I moved I now have a longer commute (seriously it went from 3 minutes to almost 30 depending on the time of day) I wake up at 3:45 AM when I need to be at Panera at 5 AM. The days that I don't have to be up so early? I wake up generally before 5 AM without an alarm.

I love working at Panera Bread. #PaneraLife

Independence Day Baking Adventures

I had zero plans for the Fourth of July. Shocked? I'm not. So what did I do? Baked. Shocked? I'm not. I woke up at 4am without an alarm. Great time to bake. By 10am I had baked and decorated a cake, baked cake pops, started dipping the cake pops, and even took a nap.

So I baked a firecracker cake. Yum!

And some cake pops that I arranged like the flag.

And some red, white, and blue cookie bark.

Hopefully your Independence Day was not as wet as mine. It's been raining nearly nonstop (though it stopped in time for fireworks to happen). I went out for a drive and saw lots of fireworks everywhere. And hit the beach. The Gulf is quite rough thanks to the storms. The drive was a wonderfully boring adventure.

My First Instagram Video:

World War C3 (Caramel, Chocolate, Cocounut)

As I look at the aftermath of what appeared to be World War 3 between Caramel, Coconut, and Chocolate; I realize that I learned a few things today.

1. I do not have a long enough attention span to toast coconut without burning it.
2. I do not enjoy melting caramels.
3. I am never ever ever (hope you sang that TSwift style) making homemade samoas again unless someone pays me (and I promise it will cost more than buying them from Girl Scouts).

So I've been meaning to bake samoas from scratch since sometime in February or March when I found the recipe on Pinterest. (Thanks a lot, Pinterest).Well at first I couldn't make them because I really needed a double boiler or a heatproof bowl. Had neither. Ordered one. Then I just didn't have the time, knowing it would be a whole day of baking. Well now I needed to empty out my baking cabinet so I finally decided that today was the day to get adventurous in the kitchen.

Delicious, homemade Samoas.

5.5 hours later I have about 4 dozen cookies, my kitchen is a disaster, and I have enough ingredients to make at least a half batch of these. Well, I'm going to cut my losses and not bake any more (see list above). They're delicious, but the effort and the mess are not worth it. I'll stick to buying these from the Girl Scouts.

They look so nice here.

They lost some shape when I moved them to the cookie sheet. Oh well.

Completed the messiest step...

As for some other updates: I have not heard from Hawaii. Alaska turned me down. Binghamton University emailed me to say they're still interested, and wanted to know if I'm still interested. Good timing, I think. I have 3 boxes packed for shipping (if necessary), one packed for storage at home, and I have a huge collection of stuff to go to Good Will. I've made decent progress.

Oooh and my hair is getting decently long (relative to where it was in December, of course). Not that you care, but I'm excited about it.

See?

My Hawaiian Alaskan Adventure

A lot of people have never been to Hawaii or Alaska. A week ago I was one those people. Now, I can say I've been to both. I never would have imagined that in one week I would go to the two states that are not part of the continental US. I'm very blessed to have had these incredible opportunities. Both trips were for interviews, one with the University of Hawaii Manoa and one with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Last Tuesday I left Pensacola and went to Honolulu. Thursday I left Honolulu, arrived back into Pensacola on Friday morning, and 3.5 hours later (seriously) left Pensacola for Fairbanks, AK, and returned yesterday. I had a total of 10 flights (all with Delta) in only 7 days. I am completely exhausted between all the traveling, interviewing, and time changes, but it is unbelievably worth it for the adventure I was able to have. Both trips I had some time to explore and it was pretty incredible. The interviews went well, and I'd be completely happy working at either place.

Ready to take on interviews.

My first night in Hawaii they took me out for curry (delicious) and then for dessert where I got to try mochi covered ice cream (incredible). After my interview day we went down to Waikiki Beach and got to walk around down there. We ate dinner at a restaurant overlooking the water. Pretty amazing. For my 'fun day' they took me to Pearl Harbor, which was incredible. It was very meaningful and educational. The weather was also amazing! After Pearl Harbor we went and got lunch at a diner. Then went and got shaved ice (at Obama's favorite shaved ice place) which was incredible. It's probably not what you expect, but trust me it's delicious.  After that we checked out a couple less tourist-y beaches which were gorgeous. Then it was back to the airport. Hawaii is now the furthest west I've ever been.

Mochi covered ice cream - green tea, mango, and chocolate espresso flavors

Got a lei for my interview day!

The view from the housing office

Waikiki Beach

The Japanese garden on campus.

USS Arizona Memorial

Kailua Beach

Lanikai Beach

I was back in Pensacola for 3.5 hours. Useless. I had a friend pick me up and take me to breakfast. I switched out my suitcases and it was back to the airport. I was exhausted by that point and had so much more to go still. So I got some caffeine in me and kept going.

Alaska was pretty spectacular. The view from campus was pretty breathtaking, as you could see the Alaska range, including Mt. McKinley. I got to see a baby reindeer! After my interview dinner they gave me a driving tour of Fairbanks. After that I met up with a friend from college who lives in Fairbanks and a friend of his. They showed me the town. I got to see what they called "Fairbanks Beach". Not much of a beach. We went and saw the pipeline (I touched the pipeline!). Ended the night up at this place called Murphy's Dome where we watched the start of the sunrise, and on the way up we saw a couple of moose. We met some people up there and joined by their fire since it was chilly. Then the next day we got brunch at a place on the river, played mini golf, checked out Pioneer Park, wandered about downtown, drove up to Chena Hot Springs, went into the ice museum, drank appletinis out of ice glasses, and then grabbed dinner. Alaska is now the furthest north I've ever been.

The view from campus. It's hard to tell, but you can see the Alaska range.

I was pretty exhausted, but going strong.

Possibly my favorite part of the ice museum.

Me and the pipeline

This is "Fairbanks Beach"

Had brunch here and played mini golf.

Pioneer Park.

The sunset just before midnight and rose just before 4am. It was weird and difficult to adjust to. It never really got dark, just dusk-like. It was pretty cool. The view of the sunrise at Murphy's Dome was incredible and totally worth it.

The view from Murphy's Dome.

This was as dark as it got.

The next day it was back to the airport and back to Pensacola. It was one heck of an adventure and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go to both Hawaii and Alaska. Now it's back to the waiting game until I hear from the schools.