Quick Intro!

Since everyone else has posted since my first post and now I have an idea of how this works, I want to briefly say a few words about me.
I am currently finishing my M.S. in Geology, specifically Engineering Geology. Thus, the stress over editing my thesis. I am currently living with my boyfriend, Tommy, trying to find employment, and practicing how to relax. My mom keeps reminding me that I will work for the rest of my life and to try to enjoy the “time off”. 🙂

I really enjoy baking and cooking. I inherited that love from my grandma, aunt, and mom. We joke about opening a bakery together. I also paint ceramic flower pots. My favorite part is blending the primary colors to create what color I need. I will put more on here about those. I like sewing, mostly for my favorite niece, Evee.

Well, that about sums me up! I will start posting more about my painting and baking, along with any geological tidbits!

-A

KJ’s Introduction

I sat at the computer with this open for about 10 minutes…. then I scrolled through some of the images I have accumulated from the internet, asked Facebook what Muppet I would be (serious question),  and tried my hardest to figure out how in the world I was going to start this entry.  How do I sum up myself and nearly 15 years of friendship with these wonderful women into one blog post?  Quite frankly, it’s impossible, but I’ll start with the basics:

I was born as 7:25 pm, just in time for Jeopardy, EST edition (because in CST it’s on at 4 pm, one of the many quirks I have found living almost as far west as the Mississippi River).  Life was full of dance recitals, girl scouts, basketball, and boys.  I still can’t remember if there was a particular moment I wanted to call these three people my best friends.  It’s almost like I woke up one day and we knew everything about each other and that was that.  It was how it always was and always would be.  There are no other people in the world who know so much about me, nor ever will.  Having grown together when we did, no one could understand me better.  We bonded because we needed each other and that’s fine by me.  Somewhere between losing notes in Hayl’s pigtails, lying in the middle of the street at 1 am with E, and dancing in A’s living room an intricate web of personal strength, friendship, affection, and harmony was woven – indeed friends are the family you choose and I couldn’t have chosen better.

I am no longer a student.  I have Bachelor’s degrees in History and American Studies, a minor in Philosophy and a Master’s in Library and Information Science with an emphasis on Special Collections and Data Curation.  I am a librarian – or will be officially very soon.  I graduated for the last time in May 2013 and have heart-wrenchingly accepted a job 837 miles from my current residence.  A sliver of me is excited for new prospects, a great position, and frankly – the ocean.  It’s been 5 years since I lived within driving distance to the ocean, and very soon I’ll be able to walk to the beach.   On the other side, the majority of me is scared and deeply sad.  I love the midwest, it’s been a wonderful home: full of fun and potential.  Anything I want to do is nearby.  The boy I’ve loved is in the midwest; but that’s a story for another blog.  That sentence carried more weight that I anticipated!

Have you ever noticed that some of the most prominent memories are of anticipation?  Maybe that’s just me.  I have now spent the last half hour listening to music from high school, enough nostalgia for right now!

Anything else about me?  Hm, I find optimism in the Jim Henson and the Muppets, ambition in Tolkien’s numerous tomes, nostalgia in Pixar’s many films, and enjoyment in cult sci-fi TV shows like Doctor Who, Supernatural, Firefly, American Horror Story, Futurama, Grimm, and Eureka.  In my spare time I play video games and don’t craft nearly enough as I should.  I like to paint, cross stitch, and knit… when the urge takes me that is.  I’m a little boring at the moment, to be honest.  Hopefully this blog gets me in gear to keep up with the ladies.

I think that’s enough for now, I don’t want to give away all my secrets right away!

-KJ

Introducing Hayl

A has already introduced herself here, and E here, leaving just me and KJ to do introductory posts.  I’m going to go ahead and break with the established pattern and refer to myself as Hayl here on the blog.

Like E, I’m a PhD student who is also married to a PhD student.  I study plant ecology and Steve studies English literature, and we live in Connecticut with our cat, Fluffy.  (Yes, he is really named Fluffy.  No, we did not name him.)  My research currently takes me to South Africa for a couple of months each year, which is awesome enough to get me through the slog of data analysis for the rest of the time!  I have far too many creative hobbies than are good for me, and I imagine that most of my posts here will center around that portion of my life–crocheting, creative writing, sewing, playing the ukulele badly, and dabbling in just about anything I can get my hands on even though I definitely don’t have time for any of it!  Every now and then I may try to get a little more introspective, and post about more serious topics… you know, if I can find the time 🙂

I am looking forward to continuing this journey with my oldest, bestest friends.

Let me introduce myself…

Hello World! This blog is an informal way for four girls to stay in touch, and to preserve a “collective memory” of our successes and failures and the general passage of time. Way to go A for first post! Seriously, you should earn a prize for starting her off! My excuse for waiting until almost the end of the first week in January is I have been traveling with an infant, and let me tell you, that does not lend itself to loads of free time 😉

I’m Erin and I’m a PhD student in the field of oceanography at Cornell University. I’m married to a fabulous man named Josh who is also earning his PhD, and I am the mother of an unexpectedly gorgeous 8 month old girl, Evee. I have a dog and 2 cats and my house sometimes feel like a zoo. I like cooking and crafting, so I plan to include some posts about my adventures (should I say misadventures?) in those areas as well as general ramblings on life. Having recently joined the new motherhood club, my thoughts are often centered on various aspects of reproduction and childcare, so you may have to bear with some discussion of that.

I’m really looking forward to using this blog to organize my own thoughts on a wide array of topics and to reference the things I’ve done, and I hope it will also serve as a way for the four of us to continue to grow together even when we are far apart!