A Trip Back...

This weekend led us on another quick road trip this time back to my alma mater, Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. I spent four wonderful years at Allegheny and can attribute much of who I am today to the experiences gained during that time. Walking through campus, I envisioned posting about the changes...buildings that have been remodeled, removed or even the new buildings but after everything sunk in its really isn't that different. Yes, there is a new athletic facility, revamped student center and artificial turf on the football field but these are simply aesthetic...ok don't tell that to the many many generous donors who poured millions of dollars into these updates...but it is the small liberal arts feel, everyone is a name with a story not just a number. The current student athletes we spent time with talked about finding the right balance between athletics, academics and fun....getting out of that afternoon lab with minutes to spare before hitting the field...the same exact issues we faced "back in the day." But what I find most comforting about Allegheny is the sense of community you feel from the time you step on campus....a community where academia, athletics and the arts blend together to become one....we had past and present student-athletes, past and present coaches, past and present faculty and past and present members of the athletic department administration....so many familiar faces welcoming us back to campus after so many years.

Walking the campus stirred many memories of the years I spent at Allegheny. Every building holding a little piece of my history....Quigley Hall where I spent most of my time as an economics major, many off all nighters locked in the small classrooms convincing security it was a good idea just to walk on by and ignore the light shining beneath the door. Brooks Hall where I spent my first semester adjusting to life away from home, learning how to deal with different personalities, learning how to make your own decisions and yes deal with the consequences. Reis Hall, home of my liberal studies humanities class...I struggled in this class more than any other during my four years but it had one of the greatest impacts...your final grade was dependent on four papers and a self collage...in college writing was one of my weaknesses and I did everything within my power to take classes with midterms and finals as opposed to writing and research papers...but this humanities class empowered me to strive to improve myself instead of making excuses, to learn to overcome, find answers to problems even if you don't have the best tools..needless to say my papers were merely average but my self collage saved the day...I took a completely different route than everyone else in the class and made a self portrait out of actual items that meant something to me rather than simple magazine clippings etc ...using a entire baseball...the leather outside, that yards and yards of string wrapped inside the leather, the pink core, the red string holding it all together...pulled apart and reassembled into a self portrait with a few other items, beer caps (of course, it is college right?), advil, pages of a book, laundry tickets and taco bell receipts...let's just say this little three dimensional project saved my freshman gpa and I will never forget the confidence I gained from the Professor's evaluation of that project.....

caution abrupt change of subject to follow:

I started this post a few days ago and haven't had the time to get back and finish it and wow have things been in an upheaval ever since....so much for reliving the past it is our future we now must deal with.....Tuesday I receive a call confirming my company does indeed want me to come to Seattle for what I am calling a test drive of the city. There is a good opportunity for me our Northwest office...but it is so far away. Far away from friends, family and simply familiarity of our surroundings. I have spent a total of two and a half days in downtown Seattle and then a brief drive by on our way to Port Townsend last spring so to pack up our home and head across the county is still something I can't get my head around. At times it sounds wonderful, I mean Seattle is beautiful and so many places to explore but then reality sets in...again it is SO SO far away and a bit pricey to live there. In the recent months we have been contemplating moving and gone as far as contacting our realtor and have looked at several houses in Granville...a quaint little New England style village about 25 minutes east of us...we have contemplated moving to Chicago..oh how we love Chicago... but now Seattle is in the picture. So many things swirling through my head...rural charm, midwest urban or the pacific northwest..I can picture myself in any of these diverse surroundings but where do we really want to be? how will the dogs take the move? what about the cats? too many questions...so we'll just take in everything we can during our 4-5 day visit in Seattle and see where this adventure may lead...we are spending one night in Port Townsend to unwind, walk the beach, visit the bead store and spend some time with Carol and Buddy at our favorite PT B&B. Then we will hit Seattle with our resident friend and now tour guide..Dji..pictured here with her two furry friends.



So, once we return I will update the highlights of our trip, initial impressions of Seattle and hopefully will be closer to some answers on what lies ahead.........