Well There You Have It

Eat that, rednecks.

hollahollahollahollahollahollaaaaaa

One step closer to the life I have finally figured out I want y’all!  I passed my state board ESL competency test yesterday!  Please know that spell check made me re-type “competency” 3 times before I successfully spelled it.  So.

An Exercise in Avoidance

I should be studying for the exam I will be taking on Monday on a subject I should know much about having taught in Korea for 16 months but have discovered I know near nothing when it comes to rules, standards, regulations, etc. with regard to ESL teaching in the United States which is why I am studying and oh, lawd.

So instead I am finally writing a new post after several weeks of working, showering, studying, eating, and sleeping, repeat.  I went to a roller derby match with a friend a while back, and below are pictures.  Please note that my preferred team is kicking ass.  Please also note that before that evening, I had no preferred team whatsoever.  Winners are drawn to other winners, I suppose….

Also, there are some pictures of an Adventure With Stuffies, taken several months ago at my BF’s house in Carbondale, Colorado.  Just thought I’d put them out there so that everyone reading this can understand  just how cute my life is sometimes.

Also, a picture taken in February of the unprecedented snowfall.  The town was near incapacitated.

And finally, a tune.

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Jollyville Wildlife

A few days ago I went for a walk and found this scene along Jollyville Road:

Not so jolly.

More Outdoor Adventure

So most of you probably heard about the Mad Hatter that decided to fix his tax problems by flying a stolen plane into the IRS building here in Austin, Texas, after setting fire to the home he shared with his wife and child.  Good news!  No more taxes for him!  Except that pesky death tax, so who got the last word here?  Anyway, the whole event happened minutes up the road from our new house.  Here’s a drive-by picture of the aftermath, sorry for the poor quality:

Extreme Tax Evasion

In other news, after a successful job interview (!) with yours truly a few days ago, we investigated a park I spied a while back, which we discovered is called the Bull creek Greenbelt area, in the Balcones Canyonlands.  The end of the path we walked started with a nature preserve, dedicated to re-establishing yellow-cheeked warblers.

It turned out to be quite the find, complete with waterfalls, streams, moss-covered rocks, stalactites, and two weirdos hiking with their cat in a cat carrier.  Of course that’s what we saw.  Sorry, no chance to take discreet pictures of that….  But here are a few pictures of what we did take.  The day before that we went to Zilker Botanical Gardens, and discovered a huge park across the street.  It will be a nice place to frisbee golf, see free music, and try not to get attacked by crazies this summer!

It seems these posts are angled toward all the nature walks we’ve been doing, but be thankful.  The other things we do to pass the time are sitting on the couch and eating tortillas.

Here’s pics!

Tax evasion at its most extreme…

We were the tourists taking pictures every five steps

The Turtle’s Demise

Yes! Another turtle!!

Dear Lover, I could care less about the integrity of this bamboo stand. I want you to know that I loves ya, no matter what the cost of getting that message across. Love, Lover

The riverbeds are almost all solid rock.

The bad news for you is that in a few months, these waters will have dried up, and I will be taking pictures of just rocks.

Circling the dead deer up the road

My poor attempt at displaying how crisp and clear the water is….

Nature’s cool and stuff.

Tiny Trickles of More Waterfalls!!

The Cat Carriers were resting here

Hamilton Pool

We walked here on Sunday.  The weather was gorgeous all day,  but quite literally the second we stepped out of the car, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees and the wind started howling.  We endured it for the 1/4 mile “hike” down and back.  Worth it to find this place and to know it’ll be there this summer when it is NOT COLD AT ALL.  I love a good swimming hole!

A lot of the trail was closed off due to wash-outs from all the rain we’ve been getting.  I asked the ranger if they had volunteer programs to help with rebuilding the terrain, but she said they usually only use Ameri-Corps volunteers.  Could I pass for 18?

We also drove out to “Hippie Hollow” which was intriguing in name alone.  And THEN we discovered that it’s a nude beach.  Right.  Will do a Saggy-Bits Safari this summer.  And commence with the giggling.

Here’re pics!

Have a great day!

Austin, Texas

After all was said and done, this is where we’ve landed.  It seems that we just needed to stay closer to home for now.  I can safely say that some of us are more o.k. with this than others, but I maintain that we all have free will, and I am only assuming here but I’m pretty sure that includes Jake and me.  So we make do again with the cards that have been dealt, and hopefully we start winning some hands again.  The chips are definitely down.

Yesterday I went for a hike with my new friend, and it was a beautiful, sunny day after many days of rain, sleet, and damn near freezing temperatures.  It was a welcome respite from the weather that was pretty much mirroring our moods….The path was along the Greenbelt, which I learned runs all the way through Austin.  The water was really high in the river, and there are two main spots to hike to-Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls which I guess when the water is lower leaves large cliff to jump off of and into deep pools.  I’m sure very popular in the summer as the temps get to the upper 90′s and the humidity is high, too.  I’m sure it will be similar to Korea’s summer temps–I cannot imagine it being worse!

There seem to be so many beautiful natural areas within the city, and of course the Little Colorado runs through, too, which I am looking forward to canoeing some time soon.  There are a lot of little lakes around the city that I am looking forward to exploring.  Today I am going to check out Lake Travis; it’s the largest lake which means in the high season there are a lot of motorized crafts, so watch out little canoe!  And fish, and birds, and swimmers, and clean water, and fresh air, and peace and quiet, and and and….

I have been applying to many jobs here, of course, and so far only a couple of bites (including from this garden shop).  Although working there would be awesome, it makes me all the more anticipatory for the start of my teaching program.  The other day I was taking pictures and some kids walked by and soon we were talking about the wildlife in the area, and where to most likely see armadillos–and I got that feeling I got in Korea–I am really excited about being surrounded by that vibrancy again.  Adults pretty much suck, kids pretty much rule!!

Next week I am going to see a roller derby match with my new friend and her boyfriend.  I am pumped to see an event that involves roller skates, swearing, and general badassery!!  Holla! Will post pictures.

Have a great VD, everyone.  I am opting to celebrate Lunar New Year instead.  I think it involves lots of pineapple, so it can’t go too terribly wrong.

Here are pics from my latest escapades:

I’ll try to be better now about staying in touch this way.  It’s nice to have the desk back, and a place to think, and a place to store all my paper clips.

New Photos on Flickr

Hey, happy holidays y’all. I uploaded a few new pictures from a fall trip to New Mexico, and a few others of the projects we (and by we I mean Jake) has been working on.

Mom Translator

The other night I was, of course, looking on the internet for images of Shaquille O’Neal in a baby outfit, and instead of finding that I found this, and just in the nick of time.  A few days later, as I was failing at making cookies at high altitude, and the pile of crumbles was mounding on the plate with each disastrous batch, my own mother asked me about …”that Draymus, with the devil’s thumb, what was it?  I know, The 3 Endeavors of Some Kind.”  Apparently the cookies reminded her of that thing he was making in Wyoming.  Aaaaahh, oh.  Uh-huh.

Guess What?

We suck at this lately.  We have been all over the map (literally and figuratively) in the 2+ months we have been back.  We traveled to Wyoming, northern Colorado, New Mexico, Southern Colorado, and are now thinking about Guam for X-mas.  We hoped for a job in Medford, Oregon.  We hoped for a job in Bismark, North Dakota.  We hoped for a job in Topeka, Kansas.  Then we were like, “what would it take to move to Mexico?  Austin?  Florida?”  Seriously. We started to apply to 2 different colleges, offering programs we don’t really want.  Should we learn Korean?  Spanish?  Magic?  What?  It got so bad we were then just hoping for holiday jobs with Fed Ex, in the Accounts Receivable Department or Warehouse.  And still trying to cohabitate with family, peacefully.  Ugh.  So guess what?  We’re moving back to Korea for a while.  The job market sucks, y’all! And it turns out Korea ain’t so bad after all.  But look at what we’re now comparing it to.  So.

Be sure to look at the new layout and latest random photos we uploaded on flickr.