Yeah Life

Should I start with the good news or the bad news? You know me, I like to shake things up, so I will start with the good news.

The good news is that I am officially have a Masters of Science in Engineering! Hooray! I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to get final approval on my thesis in time from my advisor at UW who now lives in Massachusetts, but he came through, said it was good, and allowed me to submit it. (And by me, I mean my former roommate in Seattle, Lisa- who wins the most awesome ever award. Seriously- she rocks and I owe her big time.) I had defended it last June a few days before I left for Sweden, but I still had to finish the written part, but then I couldn’t submit until I was done with my fellowship, since I still needed student status. Which brings me to the bad news....

... my fellowship is over. Well, that isn’t really the bad news- I knew that was going to happen- it was only for 9 months. The bad news is that I was hoping to turn my work from my fellowship into a full-time job at IVL, but things didn’t turn out as planned. There is a lot of BS involved about lack of funding, wocka, wocka, wocka, but I am trying to be pc about the whole thing, so I am going to leave it at that. It was a bad way to end my fellowship, and I have to keep reminding myself how lucky I was to get an opportunity like this in the first place, and that I did have a good time while it lasted. Yep- that is all I am saying about this.

So the real question is.... what does this all mean for me? Well, Blake and I had planned on staying in Sweden until at least December (he has a full time job that he can keep for as long as he likes), but since I do not have a job, I cannot obtain a work permit, which means I cannot obtain a residence permit. So, I have to leave Sweden. My student permit has thus far expired, but I am pretty sure I can stay around here for 3 months before they really try and kick me out. Pretty sure (fingers crossed!). I will be flying back to Detroit in August (12th) for my cousin Zach's wedding and to see family, and then I will be flying to Minneapolis for my best friend Steph's wedding, and then ????? Yeah, I have no idea. Blake is going to stay in Stockholm for a few more months (since again, he has a job and with this economy he isn’t taking it for granted), and I will get a job (aaackk! I know!) somewhere. I don't know where yet, but I have a few leads.

In the mean time, I am relaxing and enjoying not working or going to school (or both) for the first time in my life. Blake has 3 weeks off in July (give it up for the 5 weeks of Swedish vacation per year! What what!!!), and so we are planning a big ole' adventure. Stay tuned for details!