Dana Burland

In celebration of my new job in Pennsylvania, I’d like to share a similarly themed story.  Some have already heard this one, but for anyone who hasn’t (and for the sake of getting to hear it again) here it is. Dana Does Housekeeping Subtitle- Craig’s List- for the alternative thinking I was living in Pennsylvania last summer, interning with the same company I’ve now landed a position with.  The internship was awesome, yet unpaid.  I was pinching pennies, doing my best to make a jar of peanut butter and a can of tuna suffice as a full meal (or three). Before I took off for PA, I had set up a paid coaching gig.  Teaching 16-year-olds how to do flip turns helped keep gas in my car and the lights in my apartment on, but little else.  When the summer swim season ended in early July, I knew I would be financially bruised. I had another month in the area I had come to be familiar with.  Not familiar enough, however, to know where to look for a h...

Taaa dahhh!!!  After a snowy Saturday in, I've resurfaced with a new blog look.  My social life and running shoes went ignored; but after several hours of pure HTML geekdom, I can do all sorts of fun things like scroll over my new menu bar and drool a little.  Cmon, give it a scroll, you know you want to! I haven't updated in for-evah, but I'm planning on changing that.  It's just that lately I've been on real-human-being schedule, which means slaving away from 9-5.  Actually, less slaving more playing; my internship feels like more fun than work (hurray!). Other than that, life in Grand Rapids is fab.  Few complaints other than missing distant family and friends, sigh.  Hope everyone has been trying to stay out of trouble like me. :) P.S. Depending on your browser it might not look sooo great, but I'm working on it, and by working on it I mean this is the extent of my geekiness and I'm out of solutions.  Know of any?

I'm sitting at the airport preparing to leave Bethlehem, watching the sun rise over the tree topped mountains. It's great to be in an area where pierogies are a staple on every restaurant menu. It's great to be surrounded by blue and yellow license plates. It was great to wander into my same little apartment- odd mismatched yellow floral couch and obscure color/patterned carpet. Tally Hoe Tavern was the same (plus new quesadilla night, minus drinks on the back patio), my old roommates, M&M, were just as goofy and fun and Lehigh University was just as scenic (although many more bodies than were here this past summer) as I remembered it. The walls where I use to work were just as bright, and the smiles on my old co-worker’s faces just as genuine. Even the slight feeling of homesickness felt the same. With the familiar came plenty of unknown on this trip too. My third time on a plane (and first on a small commuter one) caused new and slightly uncomfortable sweaty pa...