Everywhere but Boulder

Wow, so much has happened in the last month and a half.  I graduated (phew!), got a job (wow!), and have traveled somewhere almost every weekend.  At the end of June Judd and I went to two out of town weddings, on back-to-back weekends.  The first one, Matt and Callie Bostrom was in Amarillo, TX and was hot beautiful.

The following weekend we were up in Lake George, NY for Jessie and Jeff's wedding.  Unlike Amarillo, NY was not hot, but the day of the wedding was absolutely gorgeous.  We get to spend time with the newlyweds in Boulder for a few more weeks and then they head down to Nicaragua to work with water.

Two weeks after the wedding I was down in Mexico City with iEpathize, hanging out with street kids and girls whom had been rescued from sex trafficking.  It was pretty intense and definitely powerful.  Until shortly before this trip I did not know that human trafficking hardly existed, let alone that it was a worldwide problem.  Going into this trip I had also been recently struggling with feeling overwhelmed by there being so many worthy organizations out there, righting so many worthy causes.  Which one was the most important?  And where was my money really going?  Was it possible that my small financial contribution could every make any sort of difference in the world?  With so many choices and no idea where to start, I found myself giving small amounts to those who asked, but beyond that just feeling pretty stuck.  If I can't save the world, then why even try at all?

This is how I felt, until this past week.  Actually throughout the week we spent time with kids who were living on the streets, addicted to solvent (glue), even an addicted mother of a 5-month old baby, nursing her, herself sniffing all day long.  We spent time with kids who had been driven out of their homes by parents who beat them, lived on the street, addicted to solvent, and found them one-month clean, living in a safe home.  We also met girls who lived in a safe home for girls who have specifically been sexually trafficked.  These girls have horrific stories, its hard to believe looking at them today.   One girl for example, is eleven years old, and barely 4'6."  Her story is so traumatic she doesn't even remember it, not even her name.  She picked her own name when she arrived at the house, not too long ago.  Also living in the house, along the 11-17 year old rescued girls, are 5 babies, ages 1-5, daughters of the girls, fathered by their pimp or client.  Its awful.

I hate to say this, but even when we hung out with the girls, I could not make the emotional connection between who these girls appeared to be today, and where they came from.  They just seemed too normal, and young, and pretty.  And then the last day we were with them they performed a dance for us.  There was something about the music, the dancing, the smiles, the tears, something about the life that radiates out of those girls that hit my like a freight train.  Before I could control myself I was balling like I only had when I was younger.  After the dance the girls gave us hugs and I hugged one of them for probably two minutes, both of us shaking in tears.  It was so intense, overwhelming, sad, beautiful, hopeful and so full of truth.  I knew that in those moments of watching those girls dance, that I had to fight for them, I had to fight for all the girls who were not yet as fortunate as them.

And so now I find myself, an advocate for iEmpathize (that is doing amazing things right now - please ask me, or look them up yourself) and fighting to raise awareness for human trafficking around the globe.

On a lighter note, I grew a sunflower!  Sunflowers always remind me of our wedding... Speaking of our wedding, tomorrow Judd and I fly to Lake Tahoe to celebrate our two year anniversary this weekend!  Judd has never been to Tahoe, and considering it is maybe my favorite place in the world, I cannot wait to show him  how amazing it is.  Until later!

I *Love Cooking (*Sort of Like)

 Now that school is over, I truly feel like I have "free time" for the first time in two years, and it is glorious!  I have not been very good at documenting what I have done with this time yet..but am vowing to be better.  So todays blog is all about what I did on my free Sunday at home.  This morning I went for a quick run (still don't understand how and why people like running), followed by an amazing homemade latte.  I am definitely addicted to coffee and feel completely fine with this.  This afternoon I had Judd help me rearrange the furniture in our guest bedroom.  Since we moved in I have not been too pleased with the feng-shui of this room.  It always has felt too crowded, and our two desk chairs always bump into each other.  After spending two nights this week thoroughly "spring cleaning" and dumping lots of unnecessary junk we have held onto for years, we were ready to move things around today.  All in all I think I really like the new layout.  Pictures to come later...(I still don't feel "Real Simple" worthy  yet.)

Also included in my day was watering and looking after my many pots on the balcony.  I was pretty stoked to find flowers on one of my tomatoe plants today!  Last year I tried an heirloom tomatoe plant, it flowered but no tomatoes ever came.  This year I have 9 cherry tomatoe plants and am hoping we get some fruit.  I also have italian parseley, basil, mint and sunflowers (because they are pretty).

Today I also decided to venture into the kitchen and try my hand at a strawberry- rhubarb pie.  I don't think there is rhubarb in California, because before I worked at Whole Foods in Colorado, I had never heard of this vegetable pie.  Things got a little messy, but from the looks of things it seems to have turned out all right.  I actually made this pie for what would have been a surprise-party for a friend tomorrow night.  Turns out this surprise isn't going to happen, so Judd and I are digging in tonight.  I'll let you know how it tastes???  Not even sure I know what I'm going for.

Since I was in the kitchen, I also decided to try out roasting tomatoes.  The picture in the magazine made this look easy and amazing so I figured, easy-peasy.  Not-so-much.  The nine tomatoes I roasted whittled down to literally half a cup of substance.  This is a bummer because I was planning to use half of them on a grilled pizza we were going to have for dinner, and the other half in a roasted tomatoe salsa.  By the time I had been in the kitchen for 2 hours (between the two projects) I decided that roasting tomatoes was a total failure, there wasn't enough for pizza, and I was done for the night.  So Mod-Market it was where I ordered a BEAUTIFUL "Arrugula Pizza".  It was amazing, and I definitely could not have pulled off such a great dinner for $8.50.  Lesson learned - as beautiful as the pictures are in magazines of food, I think my max prep-time (other than say Thanksgiving or Christmas) is about 30 minutes.  Any longer and I am grumpy.  Judd knows that when I get this way, we're going out.  Sorry babe...I try, but sometimes I learn to never do some of these things again!

There is a GOD! (no seriously..there is)

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!  How in the world is it that I can write this, one week post-graduation??!!  Ladies and gentlemen, this is true.  Last Saturday, with family in from all over California, Las Vegas, Winter Park and Arizona, I walked across a stage, had my name read off a card and celebrated my recent accomplishment.  Never would I have dreamed that come Monday morning I would receive a phone call from an old contact asking me to accompany him on a site visit the following weekend.  I now write this blog from my room in Dallas at a Lutheran Camp where he and I have spent the day walking around with and talking to everyone involved in this place, trying our bests to understand them and ultimately deliver their vision in a master plan.

The most exciting part about not only getting to do architecture (the thing I have been chasing after for nine years now) is that I also get to do ministry at the same time.  I myself, having become a Christian at a summer camp that I stumbled upon in 7th grade, understand the magic that takes place at various summer camps.  Now I get to continue with my passion of design and understanding people, while using this skill to build the backdrops from which God's love can be spread.  Thank you Father for an amazing road you have taken me down, and I would be lying if I said I didn't know all along you had something awesome such as this up your sleeve.

It's Looking a Bit Scary Out There

It is officially four weeks and five days until I graduate with my Master's of Architecture.  YIKES!!!  As you can see..I have been busy updating my blog throughout the last two semesters.  Me not being on here in months is a small indication that I have definitely not been bored!  These last few months have been crazy!

Last semester I just don't think I stopped to come up for air, but I definitely have a lot of great things to show for it.  For example, my portfolio is finished, printed and bound.  (Well...at least a version of it is.  Every time I show it to a professional for advice, they point out more than a few things they would like to see different (often times conflicting with the last guy)).

This semester I have not only been busy with classes, but the looming reality of graduation actually hit me, making this semester much more weighted.  I have been struggling to remain in the moment, present in my classes because when I do not have a school deadline I am catering to, I am off searching for jobs to apply to.

The tough thing about the architecture job world right now though, is that there are no jobs.  (Ok fine..there are about 3 posts a month on one of three different job posting websites - usually for positions I am dreadfully under-qualified for).  Because of this hard fact I my "job searching" efforts have looked a lot more like networking.  "Hey friend...I know you work in an architecture firm that is not hiring..but can you rack your brain and try and remember back to the one person you met years ago who knows someone who may know someone who is working at a firm in Boulder?? okay, thanks.."  I then figure out the firm that they kind of sort of have a connection to, scour their website, taking feverish notes so that I do not miss a single building they have designed, and write a perfectly passionate and tailored cover-letter, definitely name-dropping my "contact".  Perfect.  At this rate, I have attempted to "apply" to eight or so firms in and around Boulder that do not have positions, but I am hoping that my incredibly well-written cover letter will impress them so much that they will create a position for me and find the money to do so.  At this rate I will have a job by Christmas!

Oh yea - I also joined a summer softball league, playing on a team from a local architecture firm.  Networking at its finest!

So there you go on what it looks like to be an architecture grad in 2011.

If things don't pan out in architecture (I am giving myself a month or two of unapologetic unemployment time to recover and continue the job search), I am starting to consider "where else would I look?"  I am not opposed to searching in related fields..such as SketchUp modeling or tutoring (anyone??), graphic design, interior design, maybe teaching undergrad architecture?,  related design, ministry, wedding planning, becoming a professional baker, barista-ing, or starting a family (kidding about the last one!).  I'll keep you posted.

That's about it for now. Back to modeling a weird-looking cabin that will never get built for my studio class that I should care more about.

"Which way is the wind blowing? Or is it blowing at all?"

After sitting in on an AIAS (American Institute of Architects - Students) lunch lecture I was assured of the harsh reality of the job market awaiting me post-graduation, but was also surprisingly encouraged.  A local principle at Tryba Architects, Chris Nims, who is also a staff member here at the University spoke on his perspective that this is one of the worst recessions that he has seen in his career.

I met Chris Nims about a year ago when, optimistic but scared little 1st year graduate student was I, met with him to gain advice on entering the Architecture world.  It was accurate that I should be intimidated by him, because I left that first visit feeling extremely overwhelmed and scared for all of the work and "networking" that stood between me and my dream job.  Most importantly, before I could really do anything, I needed an internship.  How do you get an internship, one could wonder, without any experience?  I was lost.

Since that intimidating day a year ago, I feel I have pushed forward and have earned the right to call myself an "intern architect" with a plan of breaking into the profession.  Chris spoke during today's lecture about the ways that I can advocate for my own career and create opportunities wherever I am at.  Of the things he listed that I should be working on now (the same list he presented me with a year ago) I can now confidently say that I am either already doing many of these, or have a plan in place to do them very soon.  Some of these items include:

•  Gain Experience - my wonderful friend and current colleague, Tiffany Cellura whom I met 6 years ago at a Junior College in Los Angeles helped me to attain the incredible architectural internship job that we both currently hold.

• Demonstrate leadership - A leadership roll at my current internship recently fell into my lap and I feel (a little overwhelmed) but also valued.

• Spread  your Network - this was by-far the scariest of them all.  Currently I am meeting with female architects I have met through friends, getting to  know them and their careers.  I also am planning to attend many of the AIA upcoming events.  Both of these scary types of "networking" are less intimidating when they can be done with/through friends, rather than via cold calls and events.

• Make your portfolio stand out - I am in a Digital Portfolio class this semester that is extremely challenging but will force me to push my limits and finish with a final (very good) product. 

I do hope and pray (starting early) for an awesome job come May.  I do trust that God will provide something when the time comes.  Even if this something is my back-up plan of opening a bakery with Tiffany :-)

What Architecture Means to Me

The first assignment in my Professional Practice architecture class was to write one page on what the practice of architecture is and what this means to me.  As I was writing I realized that this may be one of the first times I have formally put what I feel most passionate about within architecture into writing.  So here it is:  

The practice of architecture covers a wide spectrum within the profession.  Some architects want to design and erect an “icon” for the city and a name for themselves.  Other architects humbly strive to achieve subtle beauty in restoration and redevelopment of existing structures.  I believe that the true gauge of success in Architecture is how well the spaces created work for the people that use them.  Why build a civic center that looks beautiful on paper, bustling with drawn-in crowds, only to find that this space is utterly lifeless in real life?  When studying and practicing Architecture it is of the most importance to truly understand what scale, what proportion, what amount of light and dark, etc, will actually perform as well in person as hoped in drawing.  I acknowledge that my first project(s) may not actually turn out as well as I hope, but I promise to practice, actually practice architecture, learning from my mistakes so that one day I can create spaces that improve people’s lives.

Another day at the office..

 I found a website of random things you can chose to "like" on facebook.  One of them being:

Tiffany:  that awkward moment where you make a milkshake and no one comes to the yard

 me:  I don't even know what that means

 Tiffany:  "my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like it's better than yours, damn right, it's better than yours.  i can teach you but i'd have to charge"

 me:  haha I know the song

 Tiffany:  well its kinda awkward if the boys dont come to the yard

hahahaha

 me:  that is awkward

that was the most ridiculous conversation