Welcome to the hiz.

So, my new roommate Charlie and I decided on our new place to call home! It's in a neighborhood close to downtown Birmingham called Highlands Park. Here's a few pictures.

Here's a picture of the street the apartment is on: the street is lined with a few old apartment buildings and mostly big old historical homes... such as the house in this next picture which is right next door to us. We're at the top of the hill at the end of this road, so there's no busy thru-traffic. It's so peaceful and quiet!

This will be our neighbors' house, and the two houses facing our apartment across the street are very similar. Our apartment building is just to the right of this house. At the end of the street (pretty much where I stand) an alley goes around the back of this house and leads to a back parking area and our back yard.

This is our building! Our apartment is the top left one. The porch is under extensive repairs at the moment: they'll be replacing all the wooden framing and the torn (and non-existent) screens. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the yards are very pretty, green, and well-kept. We get to walk under a gorgeous dogwood on our way to the front door!

Here's the front door that faces the street. Through this door is a stairwell that leads to our apartment's front entrance.

Here's the gate from the back parking lot into the backyard. Up those stairs is our private second entrance.


We're REALLY excited about this place and can't wait to move in. And the bonus: Keith and Elaine's place is 6 blocks away and about a 10 minute walk! Hopefully in the next couple weeks when they're done with the repairs we can get inside to take some pictures of the interior! So stay tuned for that.

Gradjidated

Update for those who care:

My thesis project presentation went great! We were supposed to arrive Thursday afternoon to begin our formal presentations in front of a panel of architects and interior designers from the Birmingham area. Needless to say I was about to pee my pants, and so were many of the other girls. Obviously God knew that it would be an embarrassing (and messy) event if we were to soil ourselves in front of Alabama's top designers. The solution: tornadoes. By 3pm you couldn't see 20 yards in front of you, and the news was forecasting a tornado making it's path directly down Lakeshore Drive and through Samford's campus. Our department head got phone calls from more than half of our panel judges saying they wouldn't be coming, and she was frantically calling anyone she could think that had the guts to drive to school in such weather. What originally was a formal presentation became incredibly casual. We all hung our projects on the walls throughout the studio and people just moseyed through like it was an art gallery. I presented my project individually to about 4 designers, 1 teacher, and 3 friends who had graduated last year. It was great. Everyone loved my project, and I got some great compliments from some intimidatingly talented designers. Monday morning I turned in the last of my drawings and technical documents for my project, and now I'm done! hooray!

This is really weird. It feels kinda like summer break... but it's not. I have to get a job. Crap. I don't know if I want to graduate anymore...

There's a nocturnal mockingbird outside my apartment. I think he waits to mock the rest of the bird world until the late night when the others are asleep. It's safer that way. Less likelyhood of being beat up by the bigger birds.

I'm graduating. Crazy, right? I'll be done (God willing) in less than 2 weeks, and I'm about to pull my hair out. I have so much to do on this project!! I can't wait until I don't have to ever think about homework again. It's going to be great. great great great. Can't wait. I'm going to sleep SO much. Like a bear.

Mom had me put together a graduation announcement postcard thing to send out to everyone and their cousin. I realized in the middle of it all that I have no good portrait pictures of myself that are at all recent or decent. So. I had myself a mini photoshoot. It was a fun break from drawing 3D models on the computer.

I leave you with a picture of me and Jessica in 60 years, doing what we do best: being our wild and crazy selves.

Jump, Little Children

I will forever be in debt to Christopher Adkins for introducing me to JLC's music.  This band has been a lasting foundation for my ever-growing taste in music.  I can never listen to their albums too much, and I unashamedly admit to playing their tracks over and over for the past six years.  You can introduce me to as many artists as you want, but nothing can replace the love I have for Jump, Little Children.  Here's my absolute favorite recording of one of my favorite songs.  Listen to it, really listen to it.  Close your eyes, lay back, and just soak it in.  I'm going to get back to my homework now...

Jump, Little Children- B13