A bit of what I do in Seattle!

Well I've been with my new job for a week now, and it is such a different environment from my last place.  Oh and its totally freakin' awesome because Pearl Jam donates money to us and Nordstrom is a business partner!  I'm sure there are more amazing connections but those are the ones I've learned thus far.  I thought I'd share this link about Nordstrom's partnership with us:  http://www.forterra.org/press_releases/nordstrom_c3program
As mentioned before it is a larger organization, which brings a lot of differences that I'm still learning and comprehending.  Right off the bat our service area is several counties, in fact we are a regional conservancy.  The projects we are working on are typically at a much larger scale, usually at least 100 acres but we have a 20 acre project and a couple thousand acre projects.
It is so rewarding knowing that while I haven't yet dove into these projects yet, I am and will continue to contribute to saving the amazing Cascades and the stunning Olympic regions. Having such rewarding work is what helps get me though the long days or the frustrating days.  Because of this, I think it would be hard for me to work for a corporation.

Another major aspect of my life that has changed out here is that I take the bus to and from work every day.  Sometimes I think of how silly it is that I'm taking a bus ride that without traffic would take like 10 minutes and ends up taking 30 minutes plus sometimes.  But I haven't gotten to the point yet that I want to get up an hour earlier to walk 2 miles.  Hopefully I'll get tot he point where I'm walking at least one way or half way there, but that requires toting around extra shoes too.

Until next time!
<3 Suz

Welcome to Seattle!

Here I am, in Seattle!  I know I need to blog more and I believe it is a productive use of my free time, especially while I am experiencing some of the Seattle Freeze (I'll explain later...). I've been here almost 2 weeks, am still in the long process of adjusting my new studio to fit my living needs and am ready to take on the big city!  I have so much to think about and discuss on here, but I will try to take it one step at a time!  

Okay, this Seattle Freeze I keep hearing about, basically it is the condition of native Seattlians to not be very welcoming and friendly, but to be cold, hence the freeze.  Transplants or new people have to work hard and long to break into the native Seattle crowd.  I haven't yet decided if I believe in this yet, I don't think I've been here long enough.  

Whether or not it exists, there are more then enough transplants to the city.  A lot of them for the obvious reasons; Microsoft, Boeing and Amazon.  I'm just so anxious to break into the music scene here though, nothing makes me more happy than live music!  I'm not afraid to go to shows by myself, but right now its a matter of knowing where to go and if its in a safe place!  

Also I must mention that I've been working at my new job for 3.5 days!  Its so odd going from a small office of 3.5 people in the middle of nowhere to being on the 22 floor of a high rise in an open office with at least 30 other people, 60 staff total.  It seems like a fun environment to work in and the people seem to get along well, its just a matter of again breaking into the office culture.  I haven't dove into my work too much as I'm doing a lot of training.  This type of land protection is very very different from what I was doing before, which keeps it interesting and complicated.  I can't wait to tell more about it!  

Well, back to varnishing my new book case!

Life of a Go-Getter

Howdy!!
  This week I feel like I have been super productive, on the go, and more social!  It feels great!  I think I was kind of getting into a slump where I worked, went home, cooked, watch TV, slept and worked again.  While I need that some nights, it should not be every night.  So lately I've been trying to break that rut!

I've gotten into a lovely Tuesday habit of hiking the dunes with my girlfriend.  This has been a great Tuesday evening activity to not only get me outside, but off my butt from working all day.  It has also been leaving me with nice endorphins to get through the rest of the week! It is so nice to have a friend to work out with, to get outside, and best of all to get the best views of Lake Michigan once I've reached the top of that big dune that winded me!  My calves are sore from yesterday... :)

Since I moved to a new location, I've been dreading moving all or some of my doctors to my new area.  But this morning when I threw out my old contacts and realized I only had one right one left in my cabinet, I reached a limit.  I can't wear my glasses to a huge rock concert Saturday, they might fall and break or get lost!  I need contacts for my concert Saturday! Crap!! so I first whined to my mom, but quickly realized I wouldn't be in Kalamazoo to get them from her before the show.  So I sucked it up, called the Niles office of my eye Doctor and they let me pick up one contact for each eye and make a new appointment for my annual eye review.  While in the calling doctors office mood, I also called a general doctor's office in Niles and started that process of getting my medical records transferred.  Mind you, my last normal Dr. was a pediatrician... that is how long it has been since I've been in for a check up....

The training i drove to in Lansing today is soooo cool!  I'm so excited to try out what I've learned.  A colleague and I drove to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in Lansing for a few hours GIS mapping lessons.  After only those few hours of training, I can now do what normally we have to pay someone to do with maps!  I can't wait to put it into action by creating maps of our conservation easements and preserves, or create maps to help us plan what properties we want to protect by picking out certain features of the data and mapping that.   This will help our little organization out immensely!! and it is also a really good skill for me to have acquired!  People respond more to maps than to hard data or statistics.  Something about the visual appeal and its spread through an area is so powerful to the human brain.  I can't wait to organize the data the FWS and DEQ had gathered to move people to see the importance of my work!!

besides cooking a fabulous dinner (I will post on that next), tonight was more me re cooperating from over 5 hours in the car today and my butt kicking and toning yesterday.  I hope this can inspire someone to get some things off their checklist done that may have been procrastinated!  It feels amazing and gives me momentum to get more off that list done!

Take Care!
<3 Sue

Rally

Well tomorrow the new country girl heads off to a new city!  Yes I get on the train to go from New Buffalo, MI to Chicago, IL and finally ending up in Milwaukee, WI.  I've never been to Milwaukee, but I loved Madison!
Land Trust Alliance is a national organization for land trusts that offers many services to land trusts like accreditation, training, advocacy etc.  Every year they hold an event called Rally where all the land trusts gather to train, network and share ideas and experiences.  Tomorrow I venture to my first Rally to learn more about my job, and network with other professionals in my field.  I have two seminars and 4 workshops packed into my 3 days I will be at Rally.  Unfortunately I will not have time to see much of beautiful Milwaukee, but maybe it will entice me to return!  Can't wait to report back about this adventure!  I'm sure I will meet a lot of great people and learn about some of the other crucial land protection projects going on around the U.S.
  Last week I had a dinner party at my new apartment, Suzy's Kowa-Bungalow!   I made my grandma Sue's cabbage rolls with soy sausage in a home made tomato sauce with a side summer salad with a home made strawberry basil vinaigrette.  For desert I made my grandma LaCroix's pumpkin brownies (pumpies as Johanna and I call them) with a home made cream cheese frosting and apple butter to put on top.  It was a very lovely party.   I prepped all week for it...
I also  thought I should mention my dream property that I have been on twice int he last week.  A gorgeous parcel owned by a lovely couple.  It is up in the rolling hills of the Valpraiso Morraines, their house sitting on a hill with a lovely wrap around porch that over looks their alfalfa field, a small pond that geothermally heats their home, and a pasture with a beautiful pet dairy cow grazing.  The off to the right is a beautiful forest with trails through the woods and a hidden sedge prairie.  They also have a barn for the cow in the winter.  It truly is a beautiful parcel of land.  I was drooling during the whole property walk....
Well my computer keeps shutting down again, and I'm saving up for a new one but for now this is why my blogs are short and scarce.  I've had to restart it 4 times already due to freezing.  Not even going to try to upload pictures.
I'm glad the Tigers and Lions are doing well.
Also GO BLUE!  (we play State saturday....)
Have a great week, I hope you enjoyed the nice Michigan weather, because its over....
<3 Suzy

The Last Sunset of Summer

Tonight I went to the beach to watch probably the last summer sunset.  snapped a few photos of the gorgeous sky and lake.  Since I have so much to do after work.... I played around with the colors on the first one.

A very edited, very dramatic photo! I like silhouettes!   

Beautiful sky with some beach debris

I didn't get very tan this summer :(

This is my tribute to goodbye of many things including summer, college, all my previous years of focusing on being educated, and dependent.  

Now I say hello to fall and winter ( <3)  working, a job, being independent, and very self disciplined.
Once I know what this looks like, I will send pictures.  Hopefully soon it will be of my new apartment that I am wishing to find on Wednesday when my lovely mom and and ravishing Granny come to help me look for a new residence for my new life.
Also, Wolverines have a lot of work to do if they are going to continue winning.... train hard boys, you need to!
Can't wait for hockey season!  I need to see my wolvies play a few times, even if I have to go to South Bend to annoy the Lame-o's.
Don't forget to support my organization!  You can purchase raffle tickets even if you can't make it to the benefit, you can also buy them online with the paypal account, just specify that is what the money is for.  Below is a link for more info.
http://chikamingopenlands.org/inside.php?a=NEWS:318

Thanks everyone!

Location, location, location

Wow!  September is amazingly busy.  on top of the tons of fun Chikaming Open Lands (COL) events, I also am trying to find a new place to live for a year or more... not easy in a tourist area....
COL had a dedication ceremony on Monday to welcome 6 acres to preserved land.  This wonderful donation put us at over 1,000 acres protected!  We had GREAT turnout!  about 80 people gathered on the side of a street because of their interests in protecting land!  It was to refreshing to see that many people mobilized about this topic, especially because across the street there is 11 acres for sale that we would love to mobilize to protect, but can not commit any funding for it.  A few community figures have offered to actively work with us, but we need to fund raise for it more than anything.
  Made several jars of pickles today, since they are so delicious and the cool weather with decreases in local veggies is on the way.  yesterday I stopped by a farmers market where I was able to get local garlic, edamame, and onions so most of the object in my pickle jars are local ingredients!  I feel so much better about my food when I know it is supporting someone from this community and since I know where it came from.  Not a lot of gas mileage went into moving this food either, therefore it is more sustainable environmentally and economically.
I start my real job Oct. 1, which means no vacation for 6 months starting Oct. 1, but with all the weekends i'll probably have to work, I will hopefully get some comp. time to use around Christmas, since it is my favorite holiday as I am already thinking of it in September.... oops....
  I'm trying to decide what I am looking for in a place to live, and while I wish I was in the position to buy a few acres in the area with a cozy house, that might take a few years.  instead I think I need to find something reasonably priced and relatively close to the office so that I can save up to get a house in the future, pay off my student loans and buy a new car this spring.... YIKES!  all checks can be sent to my parents house.... haha kidding, unless you want a knit hat or a jar of dill pickles!
  at first I was leaning towards living in a youthly populated area, perhaps a more thriving area, but then I realized I can easily drive to Chicago, Kalamazoo, St. Joe, GR when I need some sort of interaction with people my age.  The thing I will be doing every day is working, so being close to that and saving money should be my priority.  I know, for a 22 year old single, I'm pretty much shooting myself in the foot, but I believe in karma and fate so who knows, maybe some sexy farmer will have a stand at a farmer's market, or I'll run into a sustainable forester in the woods? Its a possibility, right?   Guess I'll find out!  But my point is that my living quarters shouldn't be based on a location of being near activity that I would probably only use once a week if even.  I'm still going to frequent Greenbush Brewery with my co-workers and probably be too tired after work to socialize anyways.  I'd rather find somewhere comfortable and economical in a home to work sense.  Too bad stuff out here is priced like housing in Ann Arbor, who do these people think they are? The places here are certainly not 3 blocks from the Big House, or next door to the best pizza in town open until 3 am... in fact many places here close for 1-3 months a year...
Oh yeah, its a tourist area with a beautiful, grand lake, some of the best sunsets in the country and polluted air, big thanks to "The City".

Teamwork

In life we are on many different teams, not necessarily sports teams, or other competitive teams, but groups of people who work together with goals and achievements in mind.  I have been very fortunate to be on many great teams, and will soon be joining another awesome team.
    Today I was offered a formal job offer from Chikaming Open Lands.  While I pretty much verbally accepted this position on Monday, today I was given a formal proposal/job description on my new position as Assistant Land Protection Specialist!  I could not be more happy to have a salaried job in my field of study with benefits only 4 months after graduating.  I am also thrilled to become part of an amazing team, one that I will work with every day and push forward a mission we all are passionate about.   My co-workers, board members, and committee members have all proven to be a varied yet knowledgeable and kind team. They see the major benefits from investing in a young college graduate like me to make me a valuable asset to this team.  I truly believe that I can help this organization forward the mission and get through the transition period while achieving our over arching environmental goal of preserving and protecting open spaces.
      However, I could never have made it to this team without the help, love and support of the teams I have been apart of in the past, friends, class mates, colleagues, club members, other co-workers and especially my family.  These other numerous teams have helped push me to join this team, so I am appreciative of the other teams whom I may not be as close to but who definitely influenced me and worked with each other to achieve our goals.  I hope other members of current and past teams feel like our teamwork has accomplished as much as I do right now!
   Even the bad teams, what hasn't worked, or when you had a sour team mate or ten, teaches you something. and even though bad teams may be miserable, there is still the will to push past them and keep the end goals in mind.  
  So this day, I celebrate successful teams, because without all the people we have worked with in our lives, no one would be where they are now.
  I know i still have many teams to join, but this is a landmark in any person's life: their first salaried with benefits job!
and now that I'm all optimistic and happy.... its time to start looking for a place to live in a VERY rural area....
BLAH

A much needed long weekend at HIGGINS LAKE this weekend, I'm sooo excited to be with family and friends to celebrate this.


Here is the sock I just finished! now I need to make one to match it!

Cheese with my Whine

Wow!  I don't even remember my last post... talk about busy! So much going on, half of it I can't post on here but definitely some of life's curve balls.   Work has been crazy, lots of meetings and trying to get on track after the transition to the new Executive Director.  Sometimes I feel like my head is spinning and my brain is going to explode, for example, we had a meeting with our lawyer last Friday.  The discussions about the legal documents needed to make an easement happen are fascinating, but man was that a DENSE hour and a half!  Talking about clauses for the different easements and the purchase agreements and the difference between a Right of First Offer and a Right of First Refusal.  After this meeting, I thought my head was going to fall off from obtaining so much information.
Sometimes we have so many meetings I feel like I'm not getting much accomplished, but I know the importance of meeting with the people I'm working with via e-mail.  Its just hard to complete long documents when you are constantly in meetings obtaining new information, so I'll save those documents for quieter days.
On top of all the work with the 4 current easements and one preserve, we have had 3 people call in who saw the article in the newspaper about the new Executive Director and are interested in preserving there land!  This is great news, but things are getting a little crazy, which is also a good thing!
    My back is getting better, after several chiro appointments, and desiring a massage just about every day, I'm down to the bruise only being present when i sit with poor posture and some upper back tension that causes occasional headaches.  I'm trying to get back into Yoga to help strengthen my back into a less tense and maybe a little toned area.  I'm scared I'm not doing my positions right though... Need to save up for a class.
Speaking of saving up, my car, well my parents car that I am using for the time being, is seriously about to crap on me.  I shelled out over $300 for ONE ball bearing, I still have to save up $400 for the rear left one and however much it costs to get my brake AND rotors changed out....I'm trying to take each one a month at a time but that makes it impossible for me to save up for the Ford Fiesta I think I will buy in the spring.
  Yes this blog wasn't very mentally enthralling but like I said, work has been draining me.  Many important meetings and our benefit is coming up soon!  If anyone is interested, I would love to have some of my people supporting our efforts to protect land in this area.  Our benefit is in a barn with locally made hors d'eouvres, beer and wine.  yes local beer and wine!  Here is more information and the means to RSVP!!
http://chikamingopenlands.org/news/2011fundraiser
 We also have some very cool raffle prizes!
So that's all my selling points for this week.  When I'm feeling more inspired I'll try and get something more engaging up and a little less whinny.  I know we are all suffering in this bad economy, and the last thing people need to hear is about another struggling, poor college grad, but just know that I am being optimistic as much as I can and am also going to work on my good karma in hopes that it circles around.  Keep your chins up, something good has got to happen to soon!  Its all about the attitude!
Oh! I forgot to shout out about my Chicago trip to visit my great friend Drew!  Here is a picture of us at dinner at aja, a great restaurant!  we also went to a John Legend after party for Lolla at the Underground night club! I will be back soon for another great weekend!

Take care and look forward, not backward!

Liability

Well, these last few weeks, as many people would put it, have made me stronger.  Not only personally, but even work which is usually going great has been testing me.
Last week I was out testing the little streams that flow into Lake Michigan in Lakeside when I slipped down the Smith's wooden stairs and landed right on my butt three times... I also slammed my shoulder blade area of my back into the edge of the theirs three times, knocking the wind out of me and pretty severely bruising my tailbone and screwing up my back.  This was last Thursday.  Today is Wednesday and it is still bugging me after 2 trips to my amazing and generous chiropractor.  It was hard to walk for the first few days, sitting still was not possible and I could barely dress myself for bending over caused the worst pain.  Luckily now I can move around almost like I used to but in the morning and at night my booty still hurts and when I move my arms my upper back is even tighter than it was before...
  Tuesday Emily, from The Nature Conservancy came to conduct site visits of the property's that TNC transferred to us.  Out on the beautiful Grand Beach Marsh, I stepped on a bee hive underground and was swarmed by bees and luckily only stung by two, which today are itching and swollen.
 Luckily stings do not bug me that much, but i really feel like my threshold is being tested by something.  I normally am a fairly careful and cautious person, but I must have bad karma or something (yes I believe in karma... what goes around comes around...) so I guess some things I've done int he recent past might be catching up to me, but hopefully it doesn't result in my fabulous job thinking I'm too much of a liability...
  Last weekend at Higgins was fabulous!  It was sad that i was there for Mark Morley's service, but I'm glad i got to honor his life in a way he would appreciate, by sailing on Higgins Lake.  Going up there is so refreshing for me, I am truly grateful to have that place that has been the only consistent place in my life and added stability to my world.  No wonder I don't want to leave Michigan,  I have my own vacation resort with all the friends and family I could ever want here, why would I move away from that?  I feel like being even 4 hours away from it is too far... who wants to hire me in Petoskey or Traverse City?
New director started this week so I'm getting to know him and seeing our work dynamic.  Also made a friend who I'm getting beer with at the local brewery tomorrow!  I'm excited!!! It will be nice to have someone here and he has already proven to be a good guy (even though he graduated from MSU...) and hopefully a good friend while I am in the area.
This is a panorama I took of an easement we are working on!  I'm excited to be the official great panorama taker!  I'm working hard on this property too!
I'll keep up the writing if you keep up the reading!
take care!

Wetlands

Working extra hours this week to make up for the early month holiday, especially with the student loan and Ann Arbor rent to pay!  Last night's extra hours were pretty awesome though!
  We had our moonlight voyager canoe trip, I worked the later one, at 11 pm 10 of us got into a 36 foot long wood canoe modeled after the ones the French Canadians used to use when bringing furs from Canada to the US.  I felt in touch with my ancestors!  Not to mention it was the perfect night for a canoe trip, clear skies, bright moon, still and quiet.  The moon really was our guide last night though Sima J. Marsh.  It was a peaceful canoe trip, with lots of stars in the sky, Saturn in the southern sky as well.  Fireflies were sprinkled throughout the marsh, adding a sparkle to the peaceful boat ride.  Pat and Kip from Berrien County Parks were our tour guides.  They are naturalists which pretty much means their job is to share their love and astonishment of nature with others, a.k.a. AWESOME job!  We didn't see much wildlife, but we sure did see the marsh in a whole different light and mood.  If you ever have the opportunity to get into a watershed at night, I highly recommend it!
Check out pictures here :  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.164982786904502.39753.132472263488888
  Tomorrow I'm going to Grand Beach Marsh to check out invasive work that was done on it and a possible encroachment by adjoining property owners.  Got to put that to a stop if it s true!  I'm excited to see another one of our preserves though.  Marshes are great pieces of property, they do so much for the Great Lakes watershed including house a diverse number of organisms, filter out the dirty water from the streams before it goes into the lake (in this case, Lake Michigan), and help prevent floods by soaking up extra water in the area.  The beaches here on Lake Michigan were already shut down 3 times this year for high E. coli levels from houses in the area not even having septic tanks or their tanks are outdated, and agricultural run off.  Preserving the wetlands helps prevent this E. Coli from reaching the Lake and infecting the hundreds of people who use the lake in the area.  Please, everyone, be respectful of your wetlands and remember how much they do for you.

Going to Ann Arbor this weekend to move out, this will be sad, I have so many good memories in Ann Arbor.  I hope to make more this weekend and see a lot of people whom I miss!  Enjoy Harry Potter everyone!  I'm seeing it Saturday with my favorite Spaniard!
Cuidate my readers!

Week two

I had a great weekend in Kalamazoo, got to spend some time with some good friends of mine and relax the work week off.  Now I'm thrown back into Monday, the real world and the other problems that come with it.  This week at work will be slow because Peg, my mentor, is giving lectures in Kansas City.  Today Johanna showed me what she could access on my facebook even though we are not friends.  This was good for me to see because my controls work, she couldn't see all my photos or my comments, only my profile pictures, my education and friends.
Anyway, the rainy forecast looks like it will delay my strawberry picking :(  But I have visitors this weekend so there is something to look forward to.
I'm soo close to finishing my knit wrap! I'm going to go do that now!  Hopefully someone's reading this, even one person! Sorry if it was more of a rant than a life update.  My goal is to be the tiniest bit insightful but its hard after working all day... as you probably know.
Also you should go listen to the Foo Fighters. Right now!

First Day on and off the job in Lakeside, MI!

Wow, today was crazy awesome!  I started my internship with Chikaming Open Lands today as their land protection intern to protect the Galien River watershed.  I luckily scored a very nice little cottage close to lake Michigan, on a lot where I have permission to access the lake.  This blog is about my adventures working for the land preservation non-profit and living in a several million dollars a house neighborhood on beautiful lake Michigan.
  Work was good, I was kind of thrown into my desk and told to read e-mails to kind of catch up on the active properties we are looking at for easements or are currently making into an easement.  For those of you who don't exactly know what an easement is, here is the definition according to the Headwaters Land Conservancy in north-west Michigan.
Conservation Easement:  a voluntary legal agreement that allows a landowner to permanently protect land and limit future development in order to protect the conservation values of the land, while retaining ownership and the ability to sell.
This is what I will be doing a lot of the summer, working with people and properties to get more easements intact in this corner of Michigan.
Anyways today I was outside half of the day and met a lot of the board.  We were looking at possible easement properties or preservation properties.  One lot we went to today, near the Three Oaks Republic landfill was very pretty but there was  a lot of garbage dumped there not from the landfill.  There was a full fiberglass motorboat there that looked like ti had been there for at least 10 years.  We also helped a painted turtle cross the road.
After work I went on a beautiful bike ride on Lakeshore Drive.  I know why all the Chicago people come here, on lake Michigan, the main drag is Lakeshore Drive, and a lot of the restaurants are just as expensive.  That bike ride was beautiful, cottage after cottage or beautifully constructed and designed summer houses with tennis courts or a gorgeous garden or a wrap around porch.  The cotton trees or whatever are seeding like mad so a few yards of gorgeous homes were covered in the cotton like a morning frost in the spring.
Then I went down to the Lake to watch the sunset....great choice by me!  Sunset was stunning with its reflection on the lake.  The water was warm so I could beach walk with my feet in the water, no better way to unwind after a 10 hour day!  I am so thankful for the big hearted VanNice's who are permitting me to use their cottage and their beachfront.
This summer is going to be great, I can tell, especially if all days are half as amazing as today.  Yes i found a spider in my pajama pants and was at a desk all morning, but the people here are passionate about the beauty of the land and water.  This passion makes working with them much more enjoyable.
As I have been saying, feel free to call me and book a weekend to come stay with me!  I'd love company on the beach or on a bike ride or to go to the local independent theatre!!
<3 Suz