Ed in Chairs

Well, we made it to Ohio.

(I'm posting about 7 weeks late. Sorry.)

The trip (about 5 days and 2,400 miles) and events that led up to the trip (getting our house ready to sell) and events after the trip (unpacking, and getting my lab/work set up) have caused a delay in writing this blog.

Anyway, instead of documenting our trip for you all like a normal person, I've decided to take a different approach.

Our dog, Ed, loves to sit in chairs. It's his hobby. Every hotel we stayed in (as well as at Tony's parents' home), I got a picture of Ed in a chair.

Here he is in his natural habitat (our home in California) while we were packing:

Don't mind me, napping in Mom's favorite chair...

Squeaky is just. too. far.

In Kingman, AZ. Ok, so technically, he's on an ottoman, but the girth of his rear end is pretty funny.

In Albuquerque, NM: "MOM. I don't fit!?!"

Much Better...

In some craphole in nowhere, Oklahoma.

At home in Missouri: Ah, finally reunited with Fwibbie. 

Let's just stay here and play, okay?

The Happiest Place on Earth...

We went to Disneyland for Tony's birthday this year, and it was a wonderful day. Tony's parents had bought us Park Hopper Passes (you can go to both California Adventure and Disneyland parks) back in 2011. Thankfully, Disney is all about customer service and the passes were STILL GOOD--we didn't even have to pay a difference in cost.

The day started off really well: no traffic on the way from San Diego, and as soon as we got to the park, people started wishing Tony a happy birthday :)

In fact, they even gave him a special birthday button. Since he was a good sport and wore the button all day, he was wished "Happy Birthday" about 50 times. He had such a big grin (pictured in ham-tastic fashion above) the whole day. It made my heart soar.

People watching in Flo's Cafe (Cars Land, California Adventure).

Cars Land was by far our favorite area in the parks--it looked exactly like the movie! The 50s era auto-centric architecture was beautiful.

Even at 9:30 AM, the park was starting to get busy...

Lighting McQueen made an appearance, and all the little kids went nuts. I was much more excited earlier in the day when we saw Mater :). 

Above is my only picture in "A Bug's Land". It was also really interesting looking: the sidewalks were lined with these towering clovers.

Mad Hatter's Tea Party Lounge

In the Disneyland part of the park there were tons of characters walking around. I was a little creeped out by them, but I remember loving to take pictures with them when I was a kid!

Iconic, and especially beautiful with the trees in bloom!

Near the entrance of Tomorrowland

Tom Sawyer's Island

Mark Twain Steamboat. We went on a tour of the Rivers of America on this boat later in the day. There were so many people in the park, we needed to get away.

Birthday boy trying to figure out what to do next...

Jungle area in Adventureland...

Sculpture outside of Space Mountain (our only really disappointing part of the day was that Space Mountain broke down while we were in line for it--thankfully we'd only been waiting for about 15 minutes).

Matterhorn Bobsled Ride

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Happy day!

It's a Small World...the ride was out of operation and Tony was thankful--apparently is scared the heck out of him as a kid.

Starting our Mark Twain River Cruise...

It was really crowded. Maybe it wasn't crowded for Disneyland, but it was definitely crowded for me.

Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island

Gullywumper

Waiting in line for Indiana Jones--our favorite ride!

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride: I was SO scared of this ride when I was a little kid. 

Right before we got into the car (Yes, we had Mr. Toad's car!), we saw a dad try and comfort his little boy as they were getting off the ride. The boy had the dickens scared out of him--I'm sure 5 year old Lisa looked equally as distraught. Thankfully, the ride is much less impressive as an adult...

All in all, it was a wonderful day. I'm so glad we were able to experience Disneyland during the last few months of our time in Southern California and celebrate Tony's birthday in such an exciting way!

The Hiatus

Where have I been the last 6 months?

Everywhere--well, not exactly, though it certainly felt like it. Nowhere--working at my kitchen table, papers, books, coffee mugs and a cat spread out around me.

I applied for tenure-track positions this past fall at small, liberal arts institutions. I was incredibly humbled and encouraged by the process, which was simultaneously grueling and rewarding. I heard back positively (i.e., I was asked to do on-site interviews) from 70% of the institutions to which I applied, and received an offer I couldn't refuse early on in the process.

This summer we will be moving to Oberlin, Ohio, where I'll start my independent career as an academic scientist at Oberlin College. I'll be teaching undergraduates in biochemistry and chemistry, and I'll be starting my own laboratory and studying problems that I think are (really) interesting. I'm still in shock, and the idea seems very surreal. In fact, I feel like I'm writing a piece of fiction right now, but I'm not. I'm going to be on the tenure-track, which means I still have a bit more "uphill" to go. Academic curiosity, intellectual freedom and some ridiculously bright students are around the corner.

We visited Missouri for Christmas (we go there every other year for Christmas--on the off years, we've stayed at home to try and save money). We had a nice relaxing time visiting with family and catching up on rest. I've included a boat load of photos from our trip to make up for my absence.

Here's to 2014 and all of the new, exciting things to come.

This is LT, one of their pups.

This ice-covered bush looks like something out of a science fiction movie.

The other pup, Shadow, is a curious, loving little fellow.

Everything was shrouded in ice.

Later in the week there was a thaw. The trees that were coated with ice caused what seemed like a rain shower. 

Babbling creek bed.

I love this guy. I conveniently cropped the raccoon crap out of the photo (the raccoon decided the dock was obviously the best place to poop).

Which way is up?

Juniper berries