Hello All Again,

Well, the big news this year is of course the new house! People keep telling me how large it is, and I know it's very pretty, part of why I liked it. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a family room and a living room, and a kitchen full of wood! It's also only 20 years old. But the best part to me is that it's actually in Ann Arbor! I've been bicycling to work most days, until it started snowing in December. Now I take the bus that stops in front of my neighbor's house. I have wonderful neighbors behind and in front of me too. Despite fighting a persistent leaky toilet, a broken shower pipe, and the furnace dying and needing to be replaced just a few weeks after I bought the place, things have been good. Halloween was so much fun to decorate for! And the place looks beautiful for Christmas too! Pictures online: www.jennifersuniverse.com/gallery/

But a lot happened this year before the house, and a couple things since. First, my family got together and threw me a big 30th birthday party. It was wonderful! Friends, family, and lots of kids! We played childhood games like wonder ball, pin the cork on the wine bottle, egg racing, and toy car rolling. And of course there was karaoke. Also a time of sharing where I babbled a lot, and later people came up and said wonderful things about what my future holds. A very good time!

Then I had a cancer scare with my thyroid. But thankfully it turned out to be nothing.

Next up, I interviewed perspective students for Harvard College this year. What an amazing experience! I interviewed eight teens, and one was even accepted.

I called this the year of medical issues. For in the Spring I had problems with my vision and vertigo. Turned out it was the spray on sun block I was using. Weird!

Then over the summer I had surgery to remove a 4-5cm ovarian cyst. The surgery went very well, thankfully. My Aunt Bonnie, Mom, and Dad all helped me a lot in turn. My recovery was weeks longer than I had been quoted, but I'm doing fine. I remember a lot about the whole experience, more than will fit in this letter. But I want to mention two things that stand out to me. I had some awareness during the surgery, and about ¾ though I realized whomever was sitting with me had been replaced by God. After a while I got worried, because if God was there did that mean I didn't make it? I turned to ask, but as I started to, God pushed me through a door and I woke up. Good answer! Back when I had been prepping for the surgery, I made a list of phone numbers for my Aunt to call once she had news. While putting it together I realized just how many close people I have in my life, and it was a wonderful feeling. I truly am blessed.

Other than a couple trips out to Massachusetts, I only made one "big" trip this year. I drove down to South Carolina in October to visit my new godson and my first godson and their parents. The baby looked JUST like his older brother did, and the older one is now such a sweet blonde 2-year-old terror! Despite lack of sleep, we all had fun!

I also had another godchild born this year, back in May. That makes three godsons and one goddaughter for me! But he and his family moved to California shortly thereafter.

I hope you all had at least as good a year as I have, and wishes for a better one still!

Labels: Year Summaries

Wow, 5 more years. How can it possibly be 10 years since graduation already?! Well the last five have been pretty eventful in big ways, and kindof mundane in everyday ways. New job's great. I'm still LARPing. Most of my hobbies have been unintentionally given up in order to spend time with my friends and family instead, but I've still gotten in two great travel vacations. I was donating blood via apheresis every month for two years, until I was turned away this past February. I've been trying to find a way to volunteer for quite a while, I had one thing lined up but then I moved! I'm finally back in a church now, just started going last month. You forget, sometimes, what makes it important. When you find the right one.

I've set down roots in Michigan, more than I expected. But the whole family's gotten closer on my Mother's side for it. And I get to see much more of my Dad's side than I used to, which I like. In 2004 I got to take care of my cousin's 4 month old for a week, and learned two very important lessons. Better still, despite the heart-ache of having to give her up at the end of the week, I asked to be one of her Godparents, which her parents allowed, and since then she and I have become very important to each other. I love her more than life itself. I also have gotten to know Ma, my only living grandparent. It's wonderful having a grandparent again. And I've gained three other god-children over the years, all boys. Two belonging to my best friend in South Carolina, and one belonging to my newer best friend who heart-breakingly moved to California this past Summer. I also finally have right about enough good/close friends to stay happy. And to keep me busy busy! Though they aren't all as distance close as I'd like. On the loss side, there's only been one. One of the three men I consider my god-fathers. Sad.

In the Fall of 2007 I decided to see if I could handle a career in medicine by taking the EMT-Basic course at my local community college. Having only been higher educated at Harvard, I didn't know a 12 credit class was nearly a full-time load of coursework! But the cutting out of my social life for three months was worth it. I learned that the only blood I can't deal with is my own, and that I'm actually fascinated by medicine and the body. I've taken steps towards switching to a medical career eventually, but not having done any medical degree pre-requisite courses it's gonna take at least 2 years to be able to apply for graduate school. And this last year has put those plans on hold.

Over the summer of this year I had to have surgery to remove a 5cm ovarian cyst my doctors were worried could roll over and cut off one of my abdominal arteries. The surgery went exceedingly well, recovery was much slower though.

I've been trying to sell my condo in Livonia for two years. At first just feeling around about it. But then I got a wonderful job in Ann Arbor, working for a company in the health care industry (still computer programming). I started in April of 2008. It's been so good for me, and has made me very happy. So then I got very serious about selling my condo so I could move into Ann Arbor – which has always been the goal. As of yet I haven't been able to sell the condo, which I still love, but I ended up buying a house in Ann Arbor anyway. I moved in this past September, 2009.

Oh! I almost forgot! At the end of August 2008 I accidentally rolled my SUV off M-14, a freeway here in MI. Side, roof, side, a full 360° back to the tires. Thankfully I was barely hurt, just one scratch, a jammed finger, and two bruises (knee and thigh). The moral? SEAT BELTS WORK! I did end up with a tense neck muscle and vertigo also, but I'm all healed now. And, I have a brand new car!

Whew, that's a lot. And this is half as long as it started out being! I'm working on one new thing now. Hopefully I'll have great news by reunion time.

Labels: Year Summaries

Merry Christmas!

Wow, what a year. Busy, busy, busy, well at least since August.

I started the year with my 29th birthday, always nice and fun. Not too long after, I took and passed my exam and became certified as an EMT-Basic! Then on to starting medical pre-req classes. I've taken two so far this year. The summer semester was weird, so instead of taking classes I volunteered at St. Mary's ER. Also, I made the Dean's List last Spring! It's a big deal to me because I've never been on the Dean's List before, neither Harvard nor my high school did that. So it's novel to me.

In April I made a wonderful big change, a new job! In Ann Arbor! At HealthMedia, Inc, which is the company I tried to get into last year! I LOVE it. It's in the health industry, which makes me happy. And since it encourages its employees to live what we do, I'm healthier myself. I've been walking a lot, which has me in much better shape, and I'm eating healthier too. We provide online preventive health management and virtual health coach sessions. And recently, we now offer an online activity tracking tool, which I built almost all of. HMI was also bought by Johnson & Johnson two months ago. All good!

Unfortunately, in May a close friend of the family, Bruce of Bruce and Marianne, died. Bruce was the first, and one of only two, I consider to be my Godfather. Sad.

At the end of August I accidentally rolled my SUV off M-14, a freeway here in MI. I was trying to avoid hitting the car in front of me, then hit some gravel in the breakdown lane and lost control. Next to the freeway was a ditch, and down I went. Side, roof, side, a full 360° back to the tires. Thankfully I was barely hurt, just one scratch, a jammed finger, and two bruises (knee and thigh). SEAT BELTS WORK! I did end up with a tense neck muscle and vertigo also, but I'm all healed now. And, I have a brand new car! (Another little SUV)

This year, Mom decided she wanted a vacation with her children, so in October we took a cruise from Boston to Bermuda and back! It was nice, lots of activities, they even had a production show every night. Dinners were wonderful too. I was a finalist in the karaoke competition! Bermuda was gorgeous, there was even a rainbow to greet us! While there, I also got to swim with some dolphins! I had planned it months in advance, and it was Wonderful! I enjoyed watching the dolphins play, I got to touch them and even kiss one. I learned a lot, like dolphins are ticklish under their fins. And then I got to swim and dance with them too! The best part was hearing them talk underwater, and then seeing them swimming under me. SO amazing!

I also got to see a lot of family this year: birthdays, shows, Up North, baking cookies, holidays - it's great. Mom comes out to visit MI more often since I stopped flying, and I think it's helped bring her side of the family closer this year. On Dad's side, as well as more time with each other, we've seen more of Cindy and Jan, which everyone likes. And I get to see Dad, Colette and two of my step-sisters more since I work so close now!

I've also been able to spend more time with friends this year, including a wedding in Ohio (which was beautiful!) and reconnecting with two old LARPing friends in Howell, which has been very rewarding for me. And, just recently one of my best friends moved only 15 minutes away from me! Yay!

I hope you all are doing as well as I, and the new year sees you in good health and good spirits. Hopefully I'll have good news to share again next year!

Labels: Year Summaries

Hello Everyone!

Well it's been a few years since I've sent one of these out. Always been super busy in December. I am this year too, but there has been plenty of sitting around time in the back of the ambulance for me to get this letter together.

I turned 28 at the beginning of this year. Yeah, I know, amazing how time flies! I get a lot of disbelief when people ask my age. It's nice. But I digress. After an event filled and fairly enjoyable 27, I realized I needed some direction in my life. And I want to do something that gives back to society. I started looking into the possibility of a medical program of some sort. In the end I decided to finally take an EMT class, mostly to see if I could deal with the blood and whatnot that comes with a medical career. I now believe I can, and am looking into the options for becoming a Registered Nurse or a Physician's Assistant. More on the class in a bit.

My cousin Reesie - er I mean Oreese, heh - got married this summer to a wonderful woman, Tamara. The family turned out of course, and there was a beautiful and fun wedding, but for me the best part was reconnecting with Reesie (oops!) and making a new friend in his new wife.

Over the summer I dove deep into real estate with the hopes of selling my condo and buying a house in Ann Arbor. The housing market there has fallen well into my ability to afford. But similarly, the condo market here has fallen possibly below my ability to afford to sell. Then after spending a lot of effort in de-cluttering and cleaning up my place, I remembered how much I like it. Add that it'd probably be better for me to get a job in Ann Arbor before moving there so I don't double my commute time to work. And so, for now, I'm staying put. But moving to Ann Arbor is still one of my goals.

In September my second Godchild was born. A boy this time. Tegrim Cole. He lives with his family in South Carolina, so I wasn't able to see him until he was nearly a month old. He's a good baby, and big!

In October my cousins Sherrone and Rikki had another child. Also a boy. Kam'ryn Alexander. Babies everywhere! So my Goddaughter is now a middle child. She doesn't seem to be phased by it, yet.

My EMT-Basic class started at the end of August, and just ended on December 13th. Between the class and work my free time was pretty much consumed, but I survived! It was both hard and fun, and very educational. I found I really like working in the ER. I don't much like working on ambulances. I also discovered, to my surprise, that I loved working with adults almost as much as with children, though for different reasons. So now I am qualified to take the national exam to get certified to be an EMT-Basic! That means I will not a Paramedic, just a lowly EMT. Basic life support as opposed to Advanced life support.

Best wishes to all! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Love,
Jennifer

Labels: Year Summaries

Wow, five years already. I have to check back through my yearly holiday letter to make sure I cover everything that's happened with me!

Of course there's the big stuff:
I'm currently living in Michigan. I moved here a little over a year ago, in August of 2003, because I found a great job in Detroit. I'm still at that job and enjoying it very much! No significant other yet. No children... at the moment. But I do own my home (via a mortgage), and own my car outright.

I'm a software developer, have been since my first job after graduation. I know, not my major, but that Engineering degree didn't completely go out the window - two of my classes were programming ones!

Random school related stuff:
I was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 2002 due to my Summer internship at Harvard in 1999. And I was told a couple years ago the work I did at my Summer internship in 1998 at Biosphere II is still up and in use there. Way to go internships!

Other stuff:
I also volunteer with the Red Cross, as Disaster Relief personnel, and have been doing that since 2002. I kept up with Rainbow Girls (IORG), becoming an adult advisor. I also joined Eastern Star, and made it to second in charge before I ended up moving to MI. I'm still working to reestablish myself in an assembly and chapter (respectively) out here in MI. I'm not in a singing group, not since college, but I do still sing whenever I get the chance. I started taking ballet lessons a few months ago, and boy has that given me a new respect for ballerinas! I took acting lessons for a while before I moved to MI. They were lots of fun, and I learned a lot. Such as if you're not really serious about it and not willing to give up your career you're not going to go far at all. Lastly, I still do roleplay a fair amount. Mostly just table top now, but it continues to be fun to interact with good people. Oh, and I run a Star Trek simulation online, which has been running for over three years now (yes, I am proud of that fact).

My Brother graduated from Carnegie Melon in 2003 with an Engineering and Computer Programming degree. He interned with Intel for a year, and is currently back at Carnegie Melon for graduated school for Computer Science. My Mother is still a Juvenile Court Judge in Mass and loving it. My Father remarried in 2001, giving my Brother and I four step-siblings. I have sisters!

There were eight rough months in 2003 where the catch 22 of middle class was made apparent to me: When you have the money to go places and do neat things, you don't have the time. And when you have the time, you don't have the money.

In my personal life, I've had my share, if not more, of heart ache. My Nana, whom I loved a great deal, died the winter after graduation. Then I had an irrecoverable falling out with my best friend of ten years. My great-grandmother died three months before that. My cousin lost her second baby to a reckless driver in 2003. My grandfather died this past Summer, only months after a friend at work died, both of them from cancer. And if I had have known how hard it was going to be to move so far away from my Mother, I don't believe I would have left Massachusetts.

But life always has ways of getting you through the bad. I have good friends, and one wonderfully great new best friend, even if I don't get to them see as much as I want. My cousin, the same from before, had a child in 2001 and is currently pregnant again! Both girls. I have family nearby here in MI, and camping up North is always refreshing, if not outright fun. I came back to Christianity in early 2003, and Easter of 2004 really helped me put things into perspective. My job continues to be great pretty much all around.

Now I just have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and I'll be all set.

Labels: Year Summaries

Greetings!

        This has been one heck of a year. Much learned. Of course to start properly I have to go back to early December of 2002. Two weeks, almost to the day, after I bought my first condo I was laid off from my job in the companies first round of blind cuts. The severance package was actually pretty good, and then unemployment was amazing. Not being unemployed, that is, but the amount I received from unemployment. I only had to use about $500 a month from my severance or savings to cover the rest of my monthly bills. If it weren't for a freak, and thankfully non-harming, accident in February I could have made it an extra three months more than I did. Though my poor car had to wait many months with dents on both sides (it was subject to a hit and run in a parking lot in January as well) before I could afford to fix it. I was being very tight with my money to make sure it would last as long as possible, because the market was in very poor shape for hiring people in my field. It wasn't that there weren't any jobs out there, it was that now there were multiples more people looking than there were jobs, whereas when I graduated college three years before there had been multiple more jobs than people looking. Companies became extremely picky about what you had to have as a skill set even to be looked at for their job. Unfortunately, even with my somewhat varied skills, I didn't know enough of enough for most people, or I didn't have enough years under my belt as most wanted at least five. So I spent eight months on unemployment. During that time I learned the catch 22 of middle class: When you have the money to go places and do neat things, you don't have the time. And when you have the time, you don't have the money. *sigh*
        I did do other things during the time I was unemployed. I got heavy into online Star Trek simulation games, ended up running two of them and helping run both a third one then and a fleet. Once I came mostly out of the depression I was in, which I didn't notice I had been in until a bit after my birthday, but of course my more optimistic nature eventually took over again, I became more involved in Rainbow Girls as an adult advisor. Which was fun as I went to more activities, and was good as I was able to get closer to the girls than most of the adults could since I was a lot closer in age to them. I also moved up in Eastern Star, to Associate Matron. Which when I did I was very surprised to find out I was responsible for the fund-raising to support the chapter that year! So among other things going on I put together a flea market, which at the time I felt was a failure but upon review of the numbers was actually a small success. I was a fourth of the way to the chapter's monetary goal. I learned a fair amount about marketing and "pounding the pavement" from that experience. I also became more involved in the Red Cross as my normal schedule shifted to being awake at least until 4am if not all night long, and so my team leader loved to call me for night runs because he knew I was already awake and able, and I had the third most experience of the members of the team so he didn't have to worry about me while out at the fires.
        The biggest event for me of the first half of 2003 was returning to Christianity in late January or early February sometime. I had been searching still for my beliefs and a religion that I felt fit me that I had been doing for months/years. I still believed in God, but I wasn't sure of so much beyond that. Ironically, when many people might have turned away from such things for the string of really bad luck that I had been on, I instead felt God was closer. Good things happened in my spiritual life after that, even if a couple LDS missionaries did push too hard. And as usual with my life, everything ended up working out right about the times I needed them too.
        Specifically, I got my new job just as I was literally about to run out of money. I had only been on two in person interviews in the eight months since I had been laid off, both with recruitment firms. I had one or two phone interviews with actual companies, but not gotten any further than that. I had been sending out about two, maybe three, resumes a week to jobs I seemed to fit from their descriptions online. Finally I saw a job description that not only I seemed to fit but sounded to me like an awesome job, one I'd like. I pursued that job probably more aggressively than I should have, but I really wanted it. And in the end, I got it!
        The job is software development again, specifically designing online content management tools (interactive websites) for companies such as Delphi and GM and Wayne State Law. I still very much enjoy, even love my job. I work in the Fisher Building in Detroit. That's right, Michigan. Which meant a lot of changes to my life, and most of them happened pretty quickly.
        The first biggest issue was I had a job, which I was to start in about two weeks from accepting it, but I had no where to live! My Uncle Oreese was very wonderful and gave me a room in his house. I stayed for all of August, then moved to my Dad's house after my step-siblings had all gone back to school. I stayed there for pretty much all of September. During those two months I was aggressively looking for a condo for myself. I gotten a buyer for my place in Massachusetts in under two weeks, which was great, except for all the stress of selling the place and moving out of it while I was mostly in Michigan. My real estate agent was incredible and my Mother was indispensable in helping with all that. My friend Kevin also gave a clutch performance, I owe them both a lot. Finally I bought a condo here, which actually went pretty smoothly. The family in the area turned out to help me move in, twice. It's very nice to live with lots of family around. Especially Dad. But I learned just how hard it is for a child to move away from her mother. Had I known beforehand, I might not have been able to go through with it.
        During all that, my cousin in Illinois was hit by an unlicenced, uninsured driver and lost the baby she was many months pregnant with. It was a really hard time on the family. More for some than others. The loss hit me as hard as when I had received the initial news of pregnancy. I tried to help out as much as I could, but with my own life in turmoil it wasn't nearly as much as I would have liked.
        We found out earlier in the year that my grandfather has cancer. But it was treatable. He finished an aggressive and experimental chemotherapy regime around the end of August. However upon his recovery we were told by his doctor that while overall the cancer was in remission, the cancer that had reached his bones was unaffected by the treatment and could not be cured. The doctor insisted my grandfather and Aunt had been informed of this before the treatment started, but they had not been. Now that my grandfather has recovered his strength, he's seeking possible other treatments.
        My brother graduated from Carnegie Melon University last Spring. The graduation was so nice, the whole way the school did it and kept up with changing conditions. I'm almost shamed to say that they very much upstaged Harvard on handling graduations! Michael then landed a year graduate internship with Intel. He likes the work, but not the environment, and is still trying to decide between pursuing a graduate degree next year or a full time job.
        Mom sent out her own letter, so I'm not going to cover much about her. She went to Italy for three weeks in October, and loved it. Sounds like I'm going to have to go at some point too.
        For me the last three months have been full of moving many times, trying to fix up the new condo as well as settle in, wrestling with my doctors and getting put on life-long medication for my high cholesterol, trying to get over all the stress, and until late October early November-ish I think, worrying about my job. Getting laid off suddenly had defiantly put a fear in me. A fear which was put to rest the day my manager and I had a talk and he said to me: "Where can I find more like you?" Hearing that really made me feel good, and safe again. But for many weeks I would still come home and just be inexplicably tired. Hopefully it was just my body adjusting to the new medication (Crestor, for those who are interested). Things are very good all around now. I'm even starting up a social life! It's coming slowly, but at least it's happening, now that I have the desire to spend time with people again.
        I hope this finds you and your family well and happy in the New Year. Who hoo, I'm going to be 25 this year!

-Jennifer

Labels: Year Summaries

23rd B-day party for myself

New group at work, relearned C++ so can now do both that and Java

Family Reunion

Origins, driving with Michael

Kyanna's (Christening) Dedication Ceremony

Condo, buying moving painting etc.

Laid-off

Vegas for Michael's 21st Birthday

Yule Feast for the first time

---------------------
-grew ¼ of an inch to make me an even 5’9”
-cholesterol 292 :p
-condo
-acting classes
-adult advisor in Rainbow
-in line of Eastern Star

Labels: Year Summaries

        Wow. Here it is, the Holiday Season again! I’m so not ready for it this year, but things will work out somehow I’m sure. They always do. It’s been such a full year for me, though not very eventful compared to last year, thankf ully. Over all things have been very good. Despite my always being on the go, there’s not a whole lot of note worthy news from me this past year. But here’s what I do have.
        My twenty-second birthday saw a return to the casinos. Perhaps this’ll become a yearly tradition? This year wasn’t profitable, thought it wasn’t a loss either, but it was good company. Then in February I moved into my very own, one bedroom, decently sized apartment! I absolutely love it. Not just living on my own, but apartment itself. Living on my own is wonderful too! Even if there never is anything but juice in the fridge.
        Most happily, one of the two best friends I had been living with last year and had the huge falling out with, Eileen, got in touch with me and she and I have renewed our friendship! I also have managed to rebuild my circle of close friends with new great people, and the return of some old great ones, since last year’s losses. Except for the romance department, my social life has been very full and happy this year.
        Everyone knows I don’t like summers in general, or if you didn’t you do now! But it is especially true for this year and on as the one good thing to summer, that being summer vacation, no longer exists. However, this summer marked my first full year out of college and my first full year working at my job! It also saw my return to the Star Trek convention scene. I had a wonderful time watching John de Lancie (Q) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock) perform and meeting the stars. The convention also renewed my love for Star Trek, and I now run an online sim with a friend, and have made a couple great new friends through simming. For though who don’t know, an online sim is a place where a group of people who are members take turns writting parts of a story. In my case, the stories are all Star Trek related.
        This year also marked my fifth year out of high school, and so the first Arlington High School Class of ‘96 reunion was held in November! It was a lot of fun, especially playing “What’s that guy/girl’s name?” Though only in Boston does a $25 reunion turn into a $125 reunion when everyone’s cars get towed.
        Finally, I recently receieved an e-mail from the Dr. I worked under for my summer ‘99 research intership. He said that the project I helped him with, actually the paper I helped write based on that project, is going to be published in Journal of the American Chemical Society! So I’m looking forward to seeing that soon.
        Welp, that’s about it! I hope everyone has a great holiday season, and a very Happy New Year!

Labels: Year Summaries

Dear All,
        Well, the end of the year is here at last, though Christmas has managed to sneak up on me. Next year I'm going to have to watch the Advent Calendar more closely! But it is time again for my holiday letter, and this year it looks like I'm actually getting it sent!
This year has been busy, full of exciting and unexpected events. Let's take it month to month, shall we?
        January: My 21st birthday! As I don't drink, I didn't have a bar-hopping party. Instead Mom and Amy took me to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut for an overnight gambling birthday. I had a great time, as I love to gamble, eventhough I lost all the money I brought
        February: My final semester in school began. Ah, the home stretch! After spending the fall semester with Senior-itis and not working so hard, it was time to step up and get my Senior project into gear in order to graduate. I also stepped up my job search and began interviewing.
        March: I started dating my 4th boyfriend, Seth. A friend of a friend, we met in Feb. at a gathering and started dating at a party this month.
        April: My Senior project was Pressure Sensitive Skin for a Robotic Arm, and the presentation was this month. Procrastination paid off with a crunch time. But I work well under pressure and got done everything I wanted to. Then bad luck stepped in the morning of the presentation giving me a sprained ankle. After poorly negotiating my equipment to the presentation room (I forgot half the demo in the lab) and a nervous presentation on crutches, writing the final paper was easy.
        May: Final exam time, literally. After exams and getting back my Senior project grade, it was official I would be graduating with my degree! I'm still amused that I managed to graduate from an Honors Only program without honors.
        June: The 6th, to be specific. I graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, the only one in a class of 1600 to do so, and one of only two females to receive an S.B. in Engineering (the other was Environmental) out of 11 receiving that degree. That evening Mom's gift to me was a dinner cruise. It was so much fun, including singing in the entertainment show! All sorts of family, friends, and church members showed up to the cookout party at Mom's on Saturday. A few days later I moved into an apartment with my two best friends. My mother's quote was: "It's got to be a Mother's worst dream, to have her child graduate from Harvard University WITHOUT a job!"
        July: I spent most of the month bumming around at home, interspersed with hanging out with friends and a week visit to Michigan. At some point I began seriously looking for a job again.
        August: Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am! One new car: Honda's SUV, the CRV, care of Dad. Since he works for Honda I was able to get the CRV at cost, and as my graduation gift Dad pays for the down payment and first 5 months on the loan! One new job: Software Developer at ITG, Inc., and investment firm in Boston, NY, L.A., Canada, Israel, and Europe. After all this I only felt a little slighted when Michael received a job offer from his internship for more money than I got with a completed degree.
        September: Between work, roleplaying, and my boyfriend, whom I'm becoming pretty serious with at this point, I have very little free time. This month marked our six month anniversary, making this relationship the longest one I've ever had (which actually happened at 4 months).
        October: My manager at work left for a better job. Good for him, unfortunate for the four of us left behind in software development, especially since he was part of the reason I took my job. Ah well, at least after he left the four of us became a close-knit working group and friends. Halloween was great fun. I was one of two who dressed up at the office. And at home we had at least 150 trick-or-treaters come by! Best of all, everyone loved my costume, black feathered wings and all.
The first tragedy of the year struck this month. My great-grandmother dies at the age of 102. The family had a lovely Memorial Service in Ohio, which I was asked to sing at. Then the family only funeral. Unfortunately this was just the first tragedy.
        November: Three months at my job, the rest of the benefits kick in, including a 401k plan to start Dec. 1. Guess I'm officially an adult now. My first presidential election! Too bad we had to wait so long to find out my candidate lost. And happily, I ran into friends of mine I had lost touch with and renewed friendships. But on the other side I broke up with my boyfriend. I just couldn't see anything for us down the line anymore, and I didn't want to drag out a relationship that didn't have a future.
        My Nana was hospitalized with cancer this month. Michael and I hopped a plane last minute on Thanksgiving to see her. We also found out my cousin Sherrone is pregnant! I'm excited about becoming an Aunt (well, actually a 1st cousin once removed, but who wants to be called that?)
        December: Of the entire year, this month has been the most eventful, and its noe even over yet!
        On the 12th I was kicked out of my apartment. Long story short, my roommates and I were unable to work out our problems. Unfortunately I lost more than just an apartment, I lost two best friends.
        Less than a week later my Nana died. I had seen her not 8 hours before her death. I'm just glad I was able to make it out to Michigan again to tell her I loved her before it happened. My Nana and I were close. She taught me how to sew and she was a lot of fun. I'm going to miss her.
        So now I'm living with Mom, temporarily. But I'm looking to buy my own condo. I'm looking forward to Christmas and singing at the candle light service Christmas Eve. Then it's off to Michigan (again!) to visit relatives, for Nana's Memorial Service, and for Sherrone's Wedding. All in one week! Not to mention the New Year's gathering I was planning NOT to have that I will be hosting at my house to greet the New Millennium. (Remember the calendar didn't start with a year zero, so 2001 is the beginning of the new millennium and century.)
        "May all your days be Merry and Bright" and remember that when things get tough and sad, there are better days ahead. Just take one day at a time, and I'll see you down the road.
                                                        All My Love,

Labels: Year Summaries

Dear family and friends,
        Well, another year’s gone by and so as I’m writing this it’s almost Christmas, which means some people will not receive this by then- sorry! As I look back on the year I wonder how all the time passed without my noticing. I guess time flies when you’re not paying attention. At least I used it well, or so I think, read on and tell me if you agree.
        The new year saw me returning to Harvard for my first semester finals. It was then I discovered how much high school did not prepare me for college as I found I didn’t know how to study for exams! I had never needed to really study for exams in high school, memorize formulas or dates sure, but not actually “study.” Both Dad and Mom received phone calls from a depressed and stressed out girl the night before I had two exams in one day (shudder), convinced that I was going to fail both. But in the end everything turned out alright. My freshman advisor gave me some pointers on studying, and I ended my first semester at Harvard with one A, two A-’s, and one C+ (in that accelerated Chemistry course I took- big mistake).
        Second semester had me in five classes, instead of the normal four. For some reason I have the need to take the hardest class load possible. For example, this semester I’m taking a computer programming class, a physics class, and finishing my Math sequence with Linear Algebra, and then my last class, to offset the technology overload, is a core class on music. So anyways, I enjoyed my five classes last spring. I started working for the Harvard dorm crew after spring break doing wet work, which means cleaning student bathrooms. I really wasn’t that bad, and it paid $8.55 per hour, so what the heck! I also joined the intramural basketball and, not by my choice, volleyball teams with my entryway. I continued in the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus, and our spring concert was a terrific success. Early in the semester, as a procrastination method, I created a homepage for myself with the space Harvard allows each of its students on its server. (Please visit it! My address is http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~jgerman ) And with my earning one B, two B+’s, and two A-’s as final grades, I consider the semester a good success! The only real horrible thing that happened was my best friend trying to commit suicide. I thank God she wasn’t successful, and am happy that she’s doing better and plans to return to school this January.
        Summer wasn’t the best one I’ve ever had. The week I spent in Michigan was great. I was able to see Dad, my grandparents, and my aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was wonderful to take a break from my life for while. (As I recall, my cousin Nate and I spent a fun day together, just the two of us doing whatever!) After school ended I worked forty hours at Harvard on dorm crew, and around twenty at the Pharmacy, for four weeks. The first two at Harvard were to get the dorms cleaned and ready for the Alumni coming for their respective reunions. The third was setting up for and at working at the
Law school graduation, and night-sitting three children of an alumni couple. The fourth, and part of a fifth, was preparing the dorms for the incoming summer students. Then I worked fifteen to twenty hours on summer dorm crew cleaning bathrooms (again, and boy does that get boring really fast) as well as my usual twenty at the Pharmacy. But I suppose it did pay off at the end of the summer- literally. I earned over two thousand dollars! Of course Harvard promptly took two thousand dollars for the first fall payment in August, and then Dad and Mom began paying for the rest of the semester. Still I had a little money left over to buy myself a couple of things I wanted, like my Star Trek CD discman! Oh yeah, I had a boyfriend for a couple of months too, but nothing became of that.
        In September I started my sophomore year at Harvard. I had been very happy I was assigned to Winthrop House in the lottery last April because that’s where my friends from my freshman entryway ended up! Still, I did not room with any of them, so once again I found myself moving in with strangers. Except this time there were only two of them, both transfer students. Adriane and I have developed a good friendship, and Erin... well we’re not too sure about her since we hardly ever see her! Actually she’s a friendly person and a fine dormmate. We all have our own rooms in the suite. I have the one with the fire place, (at least until next semester begins) and I’ve used it twice already! Due to extensive circumstances, I’m not coaching the Colorguard this year, and I couldn’t stay in the Chorus this semester either. But I am still playing intramural basketball, and I played IM volleyball too. I’m still in Rainbow Girls, and was Chaplin during the summer term, which I really loved. I also took ballroom dance lessons this semester. I learned the Foxtrot and the basics of the International Waltz. I began volunteering in October in a Boston day care center at the Harriet Tubman House to help four- and five-year-olds learn critical thinking and computers. It’s so much fun. The children love to play with the volunteers, wheather or not on the computers. We had a great lion/dinosaur/hippo fight once! I work dry work dorm crew (meaning taking out trash and recycling and keeping the building clean) 8-10 every weekday morning, and at the Pharmacy every Sunday, which suits me just fine. At least it gets me up for class everyday at 10! The only other new thing in my life is NERO, which is a live action role playing organization. I’ve gone three times with Mike and loved it each time. The first two were as an elven archer and the last as a dragon. What fun!
        Well, that’s a lengthy recap of my life this past year. Hope ya’ll enjoy your Christmas and New Year, I sure do plan on doing so!

Labels: Year Summaries

Dear Family and Friends,
        Here it is! My first Christmas letter to let you know how my year has gone. I’ve never written one of these before but I’ve read a few over the years so I think I can do this. It seems fitting, at least in my opinion, that I start this tradition of sending a letter to you at the end of every year the same year that I started a new stage of my life. Of course I am speaking about college, and to answer the question on everyone’s mind, Yes, I am having a wonderful time. While Harvard is challenging, even overwhelming at times, I am enjoying myself and I have made many new friends. Now, let me start not actually at the beginning of this past year, but at the end of my High School career. I graduated on June 9, 1996. Everything went well, we all threw our hats at the end of the ceremony and then hurried off to our Graduation parties. Mine was held in the back yard of our house. It was an open-house-cook-out party, and Mom made food for everyone who showed up. Around sixty people came, including some of my family members from Michigan!
        Over the summer Mike and I visited our family and friends in Michigan. We went White Water Rafting in Pennsylvania with Dad. Mike fell out of the raft once, but we had a lot of fun getting wet, climbing on rocks to push the raft free, and running our raft over one of the guides. We also went camping, Horseback Riding, and cave exploring with Dad. As always, Mike, our cousins on Dad’s side, and I were taken to Cedar Point by our Aunts, Nana and Grandpa this summer. Mike and I had saved up over the year and so we went Para-sailing while there. It was truly awesome to be “flying” above the lake, it was so quiet and beautiful.
        Instead of flying back home, Mom drove to Michigan and picked us up. We then spent a week in Canada on our way home. Among other things, we went and saw Old Quebec City which is surrounded by huge stone walls! Being in the Province of Quebec is an experience in itself since everyone speaks French and, unlike the other Provinces, there are NO signs, or anything, in English. But at least I was able to drive up to 80 mph because in Canada that’s what 120 kph translates to! I almost forgot to mention that I passed my driving test (the first time) in June and got my license just before I went to Michigan.
        I started college in September. I had been assigned three roommates who I had talked on the phone with before school started, but we didn’t meet until we moved in. One of my roommates, Kelly, is from California, Lauren is from Connecticut, and Maura is from Massachusetts just like me! It was an adjustment at first to be living with three girls I hardly knew, in a dorm with 32 other girls and boys I didn’t know. But I made many friends pretty quickly, I even found two people in my dorm that like Star Trek almost as much as I do! Now I get along great with my roommates and I’ve actually called Harvard “home” a couple times recently.
        For classes I was taking Expository Writing, Spanish, Calculus and Differentiable Equations, and an accelerated Chemistry course. The semester ended December 17, and I have break until January 2. Then reading period begins, which lasts for two weeks before finals begin. Even though finals are after vacation, I’m not going to ruin my Holidays by worrying about them until reading period starts.
        And finally, so I wouldn’t become a boring person who only studies, I kept myself busy with many extra-curricular activities this semester. I was accepted to the Harvard- Radcliffe Chorus, in which I sing Soprano and am the section leader of the Soprano II’s. Our first concert was December 8th and was a wonderful success. For the first time, I coached the Color guard squad of the football team at Arlington High School. It was a lot of fun being the one to make the decisions for a change! I also am continuing on in Rainbow Girls. And I am still working at Menotomy Pharmacy in Arlington. It’s great because I can pick up the bus at Harvard station and it goes right to the Pharmacy’s door.
        Well, that’s my past year in a nut shell. A chestnut shell! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Labels: Year Summaries