We did the Danskin!

You may have noticed that I didn't write much in anticipation of the Danskin...well, that's because I was REALLY nervous and unsure of whether or not I could do the swim. But, on Sunday morning I was out there with my friends. I'm proud to say that we all finished - and I think I speak for everyone when I say we're glad it's done!

We started out with a 1/2 mile swim - this was the scary part for me. We all lined up in the water, then swam in a triangle that ended back at shore. I was doing a lot of backstroking and was definitely one of the slowest in my wave, but I did it!

I was sooooo much happier to be on my bike. The swim was behind me, and I knew I could make up some time during our 12 mile ride across I-90. I managed an average speed of 15mph, which I think is pretty respectable given that I have been on all of 2 rides this season...

I am not a runner. In fact, I really hate running when it doesn't involve following a soccer ball. Still, it was so exciting to be on the last leg of the race, that I was practically giddy on our run/walk. Here I am running up to the finish.

All in all, I'm glad I was there with my friends. The Danskin is a really amazing event - seeing so many woman of all ages come together to challenge themselves.

Now that it's done, I plan to support Fiance-with-the-mostest in preparing for his triathlon in September. When school begins, I hope to schedule myself for regular time at the gym, and hopefully some of the great classes offered at low prices for students. I think relaxing workouts, like yoga, will be more appropriate for a while! :)

A car-free weekend, filled with cleaning

It's been an interesting, productive weekend.

On Friday night we enjoyed a lovely sing-along/karaoke evening with friends, until the cops came by with a noise complaint. Considering we were singing Disney songs and you pretty much can't find a more law-abiding group of 20-somethings, we found this rather amusing.

Since then, Fiance-with-the-mostest and I haven't left Kirkland or used any form of motorized transportation all weekend. On Saturday I slept late, and then relaxed into the afternoon. At that point we started "the cleaning." You see, the house was a DISASTER. I wish I had before pictures, except I'd be too embarrassed to show them. Stress, heat, and jam-packed schedules meant we did a lot of procrastinating in the little time we had available to pick up. Plus, we still had organization to do since I moved in more than 4 months ago (sad).

So, we cleaned. And I'm pretty darn happy with the results. Things are organized, and everything has it's place. There are even pictures on the walls! I'll be the last person to tell you it's perfect, and we have a lot of stuff for a small space, but I feel sooooooo much better.

The blue bins on our TV stand now house Rock Band equipment.

We removed the hutch from the desk (I hate hutches. Hate them.), and created a more functional space. In this photo we're making use of my iFish and a fan, but at least there is ROOM for that!

Here's the rest of the office. You can see the floor again!

I love containers. It's kind of a problem.

We got a great bookcase a few weeks ago to fit under our counter and provide extra storage in an unused space.

FWTM picked some of our beautiful pale yellow sunflowers from the garden.

We also have ideas for some paint color changes (more details to come)...it's so exciting to be able to make these adjustments, and to feel comfortable in our home. It's also exciting to donate the things we don't need/want and simply our lives...


We still have to figure out where we're taking all the donations - I'll be reporting back. It's tricky trying to do the right thing and keep unwanted items out of the landfill. But, for now, I'm enjoying a quiet, relaxed evening in our clean space. (Contented sigh.)

Things I accomplished while commuting this week

1. Exercise - walked more than 13 miles
2. Read - About 100 pages of Little Women
3. Checked e-mail - Oh, Blackberry. What would I do without you?)
4. Spent much needed time spacing out
5. Achieved cooling - I'm fortunate to ride a bus with air conditioning.
6. Ran errands - Stopped in stores to look for a card, watered the garden on the way to work
7. Remembered things I'd forgotten
8. Made lists of things I shouldn't forget
9. Observed traffic and construction without having to navigate it myself - Thank you, METRO drivers!
10. Reduced the carbon impact of my commute - Woo hoo!

At least under standard conditions, items #1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 couldn't be done in a single occupancy vehicle. I'm also pretty sure #4 wouldn't be a very good idea.

I feel very accomplished.

Oysters

I'm published! It only took 4 years after I originally wrote and submitted two articles on native Olympia oysters for me to make the big time in the Journal of Shellfish Research. Hehe.

But seriously, it's pretty cool. I spent almost 2 years on the project, which included historical research on oyster management as well as a field project on restoration techniques. I checked out books from the Washington State Library in Tumwater that no one had borrowed for almost 20 years. I trudged through mud in my hip waders, and nearly had to live there when I became stuck and the tide was rising around me. I even braved the tideflats in the middle of the night (when low tides occur in the winter time) to collect shells for examination back in the lab.

In the end, I decided that I enjoyed teaching science more than doing it myself. But, I never could have figured that out without doing years worth of undergraduate research - and support work for other people's research - on Mt. St. Helens recovery ecology (scanning slides), microbial ecology of deep sea hydrothermal vents (real lab work with vials and microscopes - I even presented at the Geological Society of America!), geoduck/eelgrass interactions (more mud and lots of measuring), and of course my native oyster projects.

So what does this have to do with sustainability? Two things:

1) I found my passion - part of my journey toward personal sustainability. I had to try out ecology to learn that I would rather make science accessible to the public - and I think I'm pretty good at it. I just didn't have the patience for lab work, and I wanted to work more actively with people. If I got to the point where I was teaching, I think I'd like that part of academia.

2) My oyster work is an example of the science behind sustainability. So often we recognize a problem (i.e. oyster populations are dwindling), but it's hard to understand why and how to solve the problem. It's an exciting moment, as in many arenas - climate science, green energy, agriculture, etc. - we're looking for and finding new options that are leading towards solutions. It's incredible to think, but my work could inform people doing on the ground restoration. Believe it or not, people do read this rather obscure journal!

And I'm just proud! :)

Low Car Diet: 2 week update

As of today, we're halfway through the Low Car Diet. So how has it been going? Here's a break down:

Wednesday 7/15 - Launch of the diet. I took the bus to work early to set up for the event - it was a lovely morning, and I was amazed how easy it is to take the bus at 6 in the morning! That day I walked from SAM downtown to the Olympic Sculpture Park, back to Watermark Tower, back to OSP for a meeting, and downtown (again) to catch a bus to Bellevue. Whew! In Bellevue I met Fiance-with-the-mostest, and we got some dinner and saw Harry Potter. It was great, since Bellevue is on FWTM's way home from work, and we were able to carpool home after the movie.

Thursday 7/16 - I took the bus and walked to and from work. That evening I was packing for our trip to Hawaii (yay!). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend a very fun book club. Usually I carpool with friends, but those folks weren't attending. I thought about using a Zipcar, but I wouldn't be able to return it without a late night bus ride or keeping the car overnight. And I thought about using Dave's car when he got home, but that just didn't feel right with the diet. I decided it was a good lesson - that sometimes reducing your miles means choosing how many events you can handle - but it wasn't easy.

Friday 7/17 - Friday 7/24 - Maui! This week wasn't the most accurate test since I had a pre-planned vacation. FWTM and I joined my family for a wonderful and relaxing trip. While not the greenest, I did notice some sustainability choices associated with our trip. 1) We did use rental cars on the island, but had 2 cars for 10 people. 2) Dave and I were staying just down the beach from my family, and we walked back and forth about half a mile each way. 3) We did a great zipline course through a company working to be green. 4) Most of the time we stayed close to the hotels, limited our need for transportation. 5) We spent a lot of time enjoying the local flora and fauna. 6) We ate lots of locally grown foods.

Saturday 7/25 - We spent most of the day recovering from our trip. We did use FWTM's car for a trip to the Marymoor garden to water and to get food. It took us some time to readjust to life at home.

Sunday 7/26 - This was another day primarily spent relaxing and recovering. We didn't drive at all. We also tried the outdoor pool within walking distance for the first time, since I will need to use it during the challenge to continue my training for the Danskin triathlon. In the evening we walked to the Kirkland garden, and harvested some zucchini, lettuce, and peas.

Monday 7/27 - My first day back to work! I bused and walked in the morning, bused and walked to the library and a meeting downtown, and bused home. FWTM and I returned to the pool for a swim tonight. We decided to divide and conquer to get to the grocery store and the garden on foot before dark, which worked out great. We're lucky to have all these resources so close to home!

Tuesday 7/28 - A slow day. I bused and walked to and from work, and walked to the garden in the evening.

Wednesday 7/29 - So far I've done my normal commute to work (bus and walk). Iwalked to the downtown museum and back later today to stop by a colleague's baby shower. Tonight...well, I'm not so sure yet. I'm either going to soccer or to hang out with Fiance-with-the-mostest and his family. Given the temperature, I'm hoping for a game cancellation and option 2.

So far, I'm finding that my biggest limitation is stress. Here's something I've figured out about myself: I like to please people. I feel beyond horrible when people are upset with me, or I have to say I can't do something. I try to do everything, get stressed, have to say no to something, and then feel MORE stressed because I'm upset. Ugh.

How does this relate? Well, when I'm car-free and coordinating trips with FWTM, sometimes evening events are harder to get to. Take tonight. I can bus to soccer, but I have no idea how I'm going to get home. I can't think of any buses that run near there at that time, or at least not frequently. So, I could get a Zipcar, but I'd have to get it overnight (I'm still deciding). If I go hang out with Fiance-with-the-mostest, I will most likely hitch a ride with some of his family that will be carpooling over, and then ride home with FWTM. In any case, I have to PLAN these things. Normally I thrive on my detailed Google calendar (thinking color coding and syncing), but add in the stress factor...well, it's not pretty. My next "challenge" is obvious - find ways to manage stress, and my schedule, so they don't take away from the Low Car Diet.

We'll see how I do...

Education

I. Am. So. Tired.

It's a busy week, to say the least. There are a lot of really wonderful things happening (like the bachelorette party and wedding of one of my best friends), and things that are frustrating (getting a sore throat).

Next week you will start hearing about my newest adventure: Zipcar's Low Car Diet. But, given my tiredness, I've been struggling for blog ideas.

So, I thought I'd tell you more about my pending reintroduction to the world of academia (AKA graduate school). At the end of September, I will begin the Master's in Education program at the University of Washington, in the area of Curriculum and Instruction.

So how did I get here? Just a touch over 4 years ago I graduated from UW with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a B.S. in Biology. Outside of classes, I was co-president of the Earth Club (planning Earth Week events on campus), worked on several undergraduate research projects (including studying oyster restoration ecology - yes, I'm serious), trained as a Beach Naturalist (I'm such a nerd), and volunteered and worked in a number of other capacities. I learned a lot about myself and what I liked (and didn't like) to do.

After a couple of brief stints after graduation, I started working at our local science museum. I LOVED it. Everyone else liked science. It was like nerd heaven! It was so easy to make friends, feel included, and pass an 8 hour work day! But, I'm ambitious. I wanted to advance, get benefits, and be a leader. So, I started splitting my time to teach environmental education. If I thought I was in love before, this time I was hit hard. I regularly doubted myself as a teacher, but working with kids was incredibly rewarding. I'd come home singing camp songs, exhilarated and covered in dirt. What more could you want in life? But, alas, I still needed a job with benefits, and was about to be kicked off my dad's. Note: I almost cried when I recently went to see the newly expanded and LEED-certified nature center. It's amazing.

For the past two years I've been in my current position, working on environmental programs for the art museum. I'm still amazed that I got this job. How could they have looked at me and thought I could do this? But, I learned. I asked questions. I shared ideas. I worked hard. Sometimes I forget just how much we've done (and how much I've grown). It's hard to express how grateful I am to my boss and this museum for taking a chance on me.

Why go back to school then? I love to learn, and I care about helping others to learn (especially about the environment). I'm a very academic person - in that sense, I could probably start down the path to most any career I wanted. I don't mean that to brag at all, my friends will tell you I'm sufficiently clueless about other aspects of life to make up for my book smarts. But Education is one of the most challenging fields I have ever experienced. As a teacher, I always want to do better and give more. I have a love-hate relationship with challenge.

Long term, I hope that I will work at an environmental education center again, be a leader to informal educators, develop curriculum, help build partnership between information education institutions and schools, and even mix in some green event planning and sustainability consulting (those are all about education, too). I admit it, I get bored easily. I thrive on change and building new things. For me, teaching feels that way.

It's kind of crazy how many changes I'm experiencing this year: moves, grad school, engagement. I don't love the transitions (I thrive on routine), but I do know that I wouldn't have it any other way. It's amazing to think about where life will be in a year!

Writing

This post is scary for me.

I like to write. Sometimes I think I'm pretty good at it, other times I'm less confident. Either way, writing is something that matters to me. When I was in about the 6th grade, I remember spending a day of my summer vacation writing an essay about saving the rainforest. I kid you not. My senior year in high school I had a fantastic English teacher who really gave me confidence in my writing - he helped me to find my voice. Since then I've written in many styles, and I even have a few published pieces.

But what I really wanted to share with you today, is that I sometimes write poetry. It comes in spurts. I'll be inspired, and write 3 or 4 decent poems. Then nothing for 6 months. I love to do it, but I'm far less confident about my work. For some time now I've stored my poetry on a blog at http://jackiemichelle.blogspot.com/. I'm now open for comments.

What does this have to do with sustainability? I think it's part of sustainable living - figuring out what matters to you; what makes you, YOU. Simplicity guides tell us to identify key priorities in life, and to limit those priorities. You can't pull yourself in too many directions and feel satisfied with your life. Sometimes I find this difficult, since there are so many things that I love to do. Writing sometimes gets pushed to the side.

So, here's my challenge and my question to you:
How do we find balance, while enjoying the many passions that make us unique?

Garden update: serious growth, first harvest

Welcome back to Sustainable Jackie!

Last week went well. We had 600 students, teachers, and parents at the park for World Environment Day on Friday. The mayor made an appearance, as did a giant earth ball, and a host of costumed characters (2 salmon, an octopus, the mud monster, a huge polar bear, and a raccoon). Saturday was Celebrating Wildflowers. The weather wasn't as warm as the previous week, but attendees learned a lot from our community partners. DIY shrinky dinks using recycled #6 plastic was a HUGE hit. To make your own, see instructions here.

Life is back to a more normal speed now that I'm through those events. Well, if working full-time, volunteering, blogging, gardening, planning a wedding, training for the Danskin, planning for grad school, and trying to have a life qualify as "normal."

Let's focus in on the garden. Things are going really well! I took some photos last week to show off our progress:

This is our lettuce bed. There are actually 4 plantings in view, with the oldest plants at the top of the photo and youngest at the bottom. At the top, you see kale on the left and butter lettuce on the right. There were some salad greens in the center, but it was cold when they were planted and they bolted (developed a flower, resulting in a bitter taste). We had to pull those out. You can't see it, but the newest planting was some replacement seeds in that area. They are already sprouting and looking great! Towards the center you will notice that the plants are in a different order, with salad greens on the left, butter lettuce in the center, and kale to the right. Nope, I didn't do that on purpose. I apparently planted the first seeds in a different order than I intended! Oh well.

We've started harvesting kale and butter lettuce, and they are DELICIOUS! I've never grown anything to eat before, but it really does make everything taste better. Dave and I like to eat a stilton-like salad of greens, dried cranberries, blue cheese, and walnuts with a balsamic dressing. That has worked extremely well with the butter lettuce - in fact, I think I'll be having some for lunch in a few. You might be thinking, "Kale?" It's kind of a scary vegetable if you aren't experienced with it. Stay tuned...fiance-with-the-mostest and I have come up with something we LOVE.

The best part? We can harvest a few leaves, as we want them, and return for more. We should have lettuce for most of the summer, and will plant more in the late summer (as temperatures cool), so a fall harvest.

Holy potato! No, this bed isn't infested - our potatoes are just INSANE. As potatoes grow, you mound soil on top of them. This creates more space for potatoes to grow. Believe it or not, I mounded 6 bags of topsoil onto these...I just can't mound any more! We should have a great crop. To the left, we have onions and garlic. We'll wait for the leaves to die back, and then harvest.

We have more potatoes and onions at our second plot (going there today - stay tuned). If all goes according to plan, we should be stocked up on potatoes and onions for the winter.

To the right of this photo you can see the corner of our broccoli, cauliflower, leek, and chive bed. They are coming along, but there isn't much to see just yet. Again, we'll have more broccoli from our other plot. Any takers?

The main portion of the picture shows a bed with zucchini, cucumber, more leeks, basil, and tomatoes. We actually grew our tomatoes (cherry and heirloom) from seed. That's not very common in Seattle, and I'm not entirely sure I would do it again. After giving these little guys a ton of TLC, it was really hard to transplant them out. We thought we would lose them in late April, but they've held on and now they are growing and happy. Hopefully they will catch up!

The zucchini on the other hand...they are growing like mad! We got them as starts from future-mother-in-law, and now they are starting to flower!


The basil has been interesting. They were pretty sad looking in the cold weather we had for a while, but seem to be happy now. A couple started to flower, but with basil you just pinch out any flowers to maintain the sweet flavor and encourage leafy growth.

Here's a general shot of the garden. We're so proud of these garden boxes. We completely replaced what was there. Fiance-with-the-mostest and future-father-in-law really stepped up in assembling these. We've been receiving a lot of compliments from our neighbors.

You can also see in this photo an area where I need to do some work - the peas and beans. On the day of this photo I put in the poles and string you can see, but those are just a temporary fix (sort of fix...). We really need to get some metal hoops to contain the plants and encourage them to grow up. With any luck, we'll get some sugar snap peas, snow peas, and bush beans from this bed! Some of the more recently planted seeds are starting to germinate, too.

At the very front of the plot we have a bed for flowers. Currently it looks very sad, with just the lonely lavender hown above (that I purchased after trying several times to grow lavender from seed and giving up). It is starting to flower - exciting!

We also have calla lily and Renior lily bulbs in this bed. I've been worried about them, but now it looks like the calla lilly is starting to push through. I also noticed a slight rise in the soil which makes we thinking the Renoir lily will break the surface soon.

I'm less hopefully for the poppies I planted on the front side of the bed. I haven't seen anything yet.
In front of that bed, we have two small containers with strawberry (shown here) and sweet peas. Our strawberries have tons of the flowers and are starting to produce berries! The big one you see here is really picking up color now.

We are really finding gardening rewarding. It definitely takes a lot of time and committment (I can't just go away and not water the plants?!?), but we are learning so much and enjoying the sun, smells, and tasty rewards.

Work it out!

Staying in shape is definitely important to me, and I find that it really supports my sustainability goals. Working out makes me feel healthier, more relaxed, and motivated to accomplish the many demands of a typical day. I also find chances to overlap simple workouts with sustainable behaviors, like walking to the bus or to meetings.

But, it's easy to get in a rut. Especially as stress skyrockets, or the weather is poor. In the last couple of years I have really benefited from challenges that I can work towards. For 2008, it was Climate Ride. I knew I could ride 50 miles in a day, but I had never come anywhere close to 300 miles in less than a week. I had to do a ton of training, including commute rides to adjust to road conditions, long weekend rides (meaning fiance-with-the-mostest had a big commitment, too), back-to-back rides, and some official rides/races to practice in crowded situations.

This year I have two exciting athletic events: 1) a 4 day kayaking trip with friends and 2) the Danskin triathlon. The kayaking trip is a guided trip, so we need to be in decent shape, have some endurance, and be willing to work hard. I really like multi-day events because they are both intellectually and physically challenging, but also all the more rewarding. Plus, we'll hopefully see some whales and other marine life! The Danksin is a sprint distance triathlon, which means we will do a 1/2 mile swim in Lake Washington, 12 mile bike ride, and 5k (3.1 mile) run. Several girls I know are training. It's great to have a support system!

My other consideration this year is "bridal boot camp." Fiance-with-the-mostest and I want to be looking our best come our wedding in summer 2010. So, while we have over a year, we want to think about things we can do together to get exercise. We especially enjoy biking, walking/hiking, and yoga.

I've added a lot of things to my calendar, including garden reminders and exercise plans. Swimming is by far the scariest part of a triathlon for me, so I have lots of times set for lap swimming, and for an open water swim practice. I also have running/walking and plenty of bike rides. I think we'll basically do yoga when the weather isn't nice or we just don't feel like running. It's a great habit to get into for the cold and wet months.

Will keep you updated on how it all goes!