Nicholi & I: The Jim & Pam of Barrier Pest Control

An update is in order.

We are in Portland (technically Wilsonville 15 minutes south of Portland) for the summer, and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. It's nice to have friends again. I’ve already spent so much time with our favourite other married couple, Tj & Jacque, as well as my two girl friends, Maddie & Marissa, who’ve introduced me to some great new people & it’s only our 2^nd week here. So far in Bemidji, we've only made one mutual friend from school who we've hung out with more than once because of our wanting to, not theirs, & the Clark family who I've mentioned before. But our one & only friend so far, Cody, has just graduated, & Jason Clark has been let go from BSU sadly, so our few friends may be dwindling. Time will tell, but I certainly hope they stick around.

Bemidji is getting better however. I managed to ace my first semester of college, let’s see if I can do that again, & I'm becoming closer to the girls I work with, which is really refreshing. Before I left for the summer, I got feather earrings, a bunny cake, a carribou coffee gift card, 2 cards, and taken out to lunch. That's a lot for someone who's coming back after 3 months. It's nice to be liked, especially when you weren't quite sure if you were or not. Also, the week we left the lake finally melted completely, & the weather was warming up & sunny. It made it seem like a really nice little town when spring finally hit. In fact, it was colder when we arrived in Portland than it was when we left Bemidji, only 23 hours earlier (minus the time zone changes).

Yes, again, we drove straight through. This time it wasn't in a massive moving truck so I was able to help with the driving. We slept in shifts & only stopped for gas & meals, one of which was in a seriously scary "Children of the Corn" small kind of town called Glen Ullin, North Dakota, population less than 100. We ate at the restaurant in town, The Broken Spoke, which served up one of the most delicious burgers I’d ever had, along with some damn good sweet potato fries. They even made fish filet sandwich rock (Nicholi's vegetarian now, has been for 3 months). We'd go back, if I ever ended up anywhere near Glen Ullin again...doubtful.

The main reason for the summer relocating was so Nicholi could sell pest control again, this being his 3rd summer in a row. Its hard work going door to door from 12-9pm every day but the money is unbeatable, & the back end checks make it so he doesn't have to work during the school year, other than a little on campus. We thought this would be a nice alternative to taking out student loans, because our school is mostly paid for, but not completely. I am taking a summer vacation from the salon & instead am a part time secretary for the company Nicholi is selling for (hence the office reference in the title). It's a lot to learn, & different than anything I've done but I'm starting to get the hang of it, and I'm enjoying getting to sit during my workday & not coming home covered in other peoples hair & cuts all over my fingers.

We’ll be here until mid-late august & drive back to Bemidji for fall semester. My classes are as follows:

Mass Media & Society
Printmaking Relief
Physical Science I & Lab
Interpersonal Communications
English Composition

A heavier load for me but don’t even get me started on Nicholi’s classes. He’s starting to take all the pre-med science classes, it’s insane. Let’s put it this way, he has five labs next semester.

As much as I can’t wait to dive right into all that learning, I’m really going to enjoy my summer here in PDX & hope it doesn’t go by too fast. Being here also gives me the chance to see my family more than once, & within driving distance no less. The week after the 4^th of July Nicholi & I, my parents, brother, sister & her family are all staying in a beach house in Aptos, Ca for a week. Aptos is my favourite little place on earth & I can’t wait to go back & to see my siblings & my 1 year old niece. Also, my bestie Bri will be coming up the week before to visit me & her sister (who lives in Portland as well) for a week which really makes me smile! I miss her so much…now if only we could get Tawny out here, little miss NYU. Oh well, I won’t get greedy here. I’m just excited; this summer has lots to offer.

I’ll keep you posted.