Sleepless in Seattle

I've been having some serious insomnia problems recently. It doesn't help that with no structure to my life and no commitments, I could easily stay in bed until 5pm. (I haven't! Yet.) Going to bed and waking up at reasonable hours is an exercise in discipline, which is a trait I'm not entirely sure I possess.

A lack of structure in my life generally makes my mental health take a turn for the worse (see: summer 2014). The first few days here in Seattle were very rough. We were sleeping on the floor, with no furniture, and nowhere to store our belongings strewn across the carpet. Most of our kitchen things were still being shipped by UPS. We were buying the necessities one trip to Target at a time. We had no internet. We had to carry everything up four flights of stairs to our apartment. We had to assemble all of the IKEA furniture. We had to go out and buy a mattress, then wait for it to be delivered. We needed sheets, aluminum foil, a shower curtain, bar stools, milk, pillows, a trash can with trash bags, etc etc etc.

Moving into our apartment in Urbana didn't seem so bad. We knew the area, my parents came down to help, the place was furnished so we had somewhere to sit when we were tired that wasn't the floor. But here, we knew no one and had very little. The apartment sort of built itself into a home in a very piecemeal fashion, and the process was painful and lonely. Yes, I say lonely! Even having Bryce with me! I can't explain it. Something about being across the country from everything you knew. Something about being in a place that is entirely foreign to you.

We've been here for almost three weeks now. Things are getting more familiar. I like the coffee shop just down the street. (The barista complimented me on my Janeway sweatshirt.) We've biked and walked to campus, and explored a little bit of the University District. We've been to Northgate, Fremont, and on Tuesday we decided to go downtown for happy hour sushi. We've tried local Thai, Pho, Indian/Pakistani, and even vegan pizza restaurants. (The cheese left something to be desired, but their fake chicken and the crust were both delicious.)

Money is also somewhat of a stressor, as we won't be paid until Oct 10th. But we have enough in savings to get by, as long as we don't eat out too often (which is so, SO HARD when you're surrounded by this many awesome-looking restaurants of all genres!! seriously I can't emphasize enough how hard it is, we could literally go to a different restaurant every night for weeks and still have new places to go; what I wouldn't give to be a millionaire with the metabolism of an Olympic athlete).

The weather is beautiful. The hottest day since we've been here was yesterday, and the high was 78! Ha! It has also only rained two or three days. The rest of the time, it's beautifully sunny. It seems like the sun is brighter here. Like, consistently-hurt-your-eyes kind of bright. I might be imagining it.

Our couch finally came yesterday! A cheap futon with a metal frame, from Walmart. We had been sitting in folding camping chairs to watch TV. This is much better. We've gone through almost four seasons of Fringe in just the time we've been here.

Only 11 days left until shit starts happening! Until then, we'll keep exploring. We have plans to go to the San Juan Islands next week!