Lake Tahoe

2013 has already been an amazing year for our household. To make sense of it all, I give you a timeline:

Wednesday, January 2 – I was officially granted my Architect’s license from the state of California.
Thursday, January 3 – I decided it was time for me to get a full time job.
Friday, January 11 – I had an interview at a firm that I had been curious about, but didn’t think much of it.
Monday, January 28 – Nik handed in his letter of resignation after a happy year and a half.
Friday, February 1 – Had a 2nd interview, was quite impressed this time, and was offered the job. I accepted!
Friday, February 8 – Nik had his last day of work.
Saturday, February 9 – Monday, February 18 – Ten days of double unemployment bliss that included lots of celebrating and a much needed trip to Lake Tahoe.
Tuesday, February 19 – My first day of work as an architect, and Nik’s first day where he was able to focus on anything he wanted.

Honestly, we have been extremely fortunate, and we thank our lucky stars every single day. When the year started, Nik had already decided to leave his job, but we had no clue how long it would take me to find one. We worried about the awkward and stressful overlap where we were both trying to start something new without an income in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Granted, there is still a little stress associated with both of us starting something new, but it is stress brought on by excitement and anticipation of great things.

I am still getting used to the regular schedule. My work day starts earlier than Nik’s used to, and it is often later than his used to be as well. My body is also not as resilient to the long hours as it used to be, and working 40+ hours a week wears me out. I expect that this will calm down after my first big deadline on May 1, but then there will be another deadline a couple months later. It is an endless cycle in the world of architecture, but it is extremely satisfying work. It has been a while since I felt like I was part of a larger team that is passionate about the work they do, and I cannot wait to see what this group is capable of.

Home sweet home for a couple days

My fellow unemployed spouse

The Picnic Spot

Our first stop at the top of our hardest hill in the Presidio

Nik has been working nonstop since January 2, and has not had a single day off until yesterday. He spent the day at home relaxing and going stir crazy. But today, I had the day off as well, so we took a bike ride to Fort Cronkhite in the Marin Headlands. We rode through the Presidio, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and along the tunnel route out to the ocean. Our bags were packed with water, sandwiches and snacks so we perched above the beach with hopes of seeing whales or dolphins. As we ate, a large production crew filmed at the beach and several groups of middle school kids hiked along the path behind us. At least one kid in each group proclaimed, “I’M THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN” as they stood behind us. We chuckled at their predictability!!

All told, we went about 20 miles, and we both needed the exercise because neither of us have been on our bikes regularly due to the cold weather and Nik’s schedule. It was a perfect first ride of the year, and I hope to do several more. Really, I want to rent a proper road bikes and do a super long ride up to Pt Reyes. Nik isn’t entirely convinced, but I think we would love it.

I will never tire of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge

From the bridge

My companion for life

Our picnic spot

Looking south towards the city

The rolling green hills of Golden Gate Park

It is the rainy season here in San Francisco, and the park’s ground is covered vibrant green grass, new buds are poking out of the branches, and tiny blooms are filling the underbrush. On Saturday, Nik and I took a quick walk through Golden Gate Park to see the ducks and test out his new camera lens. The day was simple, but beautiful as we watched a flock of seagulls dodge the wrath of hawks at the lake while another hawk was being pestered by a pair of crows on 25th Avenue. I love that I live here with a man that enjoys the unexpected beauty as much as I do.

Muscovy ducks perching on the side of Loyd Lake

Before

Meanwhile, we have been working on giving our favorite room at home, the kitchen, a little more life. To be fair, the “before” photos were taken before we moved into this apartment in 2010, so they have absolutely NO life!! But the changes we have made are simple enough that I think our landlord will approve, and they make the space so much cozier. Below is a list of what we have done:

1. Painted the counter nook dark grey
2. Removed layers and layers of white paint from the cabinet & drawer hardware revealing beautiful glass knobs and stainless latches
3. Removed layers of white paint from the edge of the pull-out cutting board
4. Took out one small drawer that couldn’t be used because the stove was in the way, and lined the opening with a wrapping paper
5. Painted the back of the buffet bench a matching dark grey
6. Replaced the bench cushions
7. Covered the wood ikea table that had been shottily covered with polyurethane so that the entire surface was sticky with a festive Mexican oil cloth

After

After

Now that I can hardly stay out of the kitchen, I baked a couple loaves of bread!! The only bread I have ever made was my grandmother’s rolls that we used to make at Thanksgiving. I never really understood the whole rising thing or paid attention to the dos and don’ts of break making, so this was all new to me. Luckily, Nik has an amazing book called The Tassajara Bread Book that was first published in 1970 by the priests at the San Francisco Zen Center. The book illustrates and describes every single step of the bread making process perfectly. Now I am not afraid of yeast, and will always have whole wheat flour on hand.

My first loaf of home made bread!!

Looking towards the Marin Headlands

The still water of the bath vs. the constantly moving ocean

At 4 o’clock this afternoon I looked out our living room window and saw scattered cotton ball shaped clouds in the sky. I immediately sent Nik the following message, “Sunset is going to be awesome. I’ll be at the beach!” I picked up my bag, threw a camera in, walked downstairs, hopped on my bike, and was at the ocean 10 minutes later. The actual sunset wasn’t as great as I thought it would be, but I had been wanting to try a long exposure photo of the ocean for a while, so I found a spot and played around for a good 20 minutes while the light slowly disappeared.

This is why I love living in this city, and in this neighborhood!

The 6 1 5

I have been fortunate to be able to go on little trips almost every two months this year. In September, I took a solo trip to the 6-1-5 (aka Nashville) to see my family and attend my cousin’s wedding. We had a mini Sinz reunion with almost all of the immediate family and grandkids. Nik was the only one missing, but having 11 of 12 there for a whole weekend was pretty fantastic. My sister, brother, sister-in-law, brother-in-law and I even got to go out after the wedding for drinks without kids!!! It might have been the first time that we have ever done that, and we all decided that it should happen more often.

The old Marathon Automobiles building, and the new home to Antique Archaeology

Also, I requested a trip to Antique Archaeology…you know…the place where Mike and Frank of American Pickers fame sell their wares? So my entire family (parents, brother’s family, Aunts, and Uncles) loaded in cars and met there as soon as they opened on Saturday morning. Well, the location was awesome and it was really cool to see some of the stuff from the show, but the shop is more gift store/museum than pickers paradise. And the place was PACKED. We luckily got there right when they opened on Saturday morning, but if we had waited half an hour, we would have had to wait in line. To get into a gift store. Seriously?? But I bought my American Pickers sticker and my dad and brother geeked out on all the old motorcycle engines on display, so it was worth the early wake up call!!

My dad explaining the intricacies of the Indian motorcycle engine sitting at his feet

Niece and Nephew being adorable

After the weekend in Nashville, I went to Kentucky to help warm my sister’s new home. This is the home they see themselves living in for the rest of their lives, so I wanted to be there in the beginning. My nieces are sure to have incredibly fond childhood memories of the house, and I was able to participate in a few of their very first ones. We spent a couple afternoons doing cart wheels and dance moves in the backyard. One evening we raked huge piles of leaves that they jumped in without realizing that the leaves were peppered with dog poop. (The joy of being an aunt is that I didn’t have to clean them up afterwards!!) Then one evening my niece rode her bike for the first time without training wheels!!!!!

R taking her first ride with her Mom and Dad following closely

A Spinning

(A. specifically requested a spinning photo of herself after seeing the one Nik made of me here.)

I was also treated to a couple days of sister-sister bonding time. We went to the American Quilt Museum in downtown Paducah and saw one of the coolest collections of vintage quilts. We had lunch at a cute little bakery after listening to part of the city-wide cell phone walking tour. Then we went to a fabric store where Keisha and I picked fabrics for a quilt that I will be making for their family. Now that my week with my sister is over, I miss her more than ever.

The generator room for an old bunker at the Presidio

A condemned military prison

In other new and exciting bits from San Francisco, I have spent some quality time in the Presidio lately, I have been sewing a ton, and I am about to take my final test to become a licensed architect next week. My days are busy and varied, just the way I like them.

The sewing process

A quilt I made for my parents 40th Anniversary and 60th Birthdays

Star Quilt (the back)- I am making this one out of scrap fabric for Nik and I

BEFORE / AFTER – Today I rescued an old wool sweater from Nik’s donation pile, and made myself one super cozy, slim fitting sweater.

The next time you hear from me, I will have gone on our BIG TRIP OF THE YEAR!!!!!! We are going to Japan for two weeks over Thanksgiving…that’s less than two weeks away!!! We cannot wait.