Our final Chemwipes

Our last big Stanford Chemistry event was our 6th and final Chemwipes production. In case you haven't heard us talking about this before you can find a brief explanation here from a previous post. It couldn't have come at a better time. I finished work just the day before and with only a few days remaining until people began disappearing for the Holidays this sort of served as a going away party.

In the back: Brett, Brian, and Jason

With Dennis!

 The show this year was one of the best we'd seen in awhile. (Not as good as our year of course). There were several live skits which were pretty good and I'll never forget the music video they made to "I'm sexy and I know it". 

Pete and Kevin

Arun

Whitney

 Every year at Chemwipes we end up looking back on our first year at Stanford. It has been so great and we have so many incredible memories there. (Sorry is I'm a little heavy on the nostalgia)

 Not sure why (I think maybe they had always talked about doing this and finally realized they were almost out of time), but Brian and Kevin thought it would be a good idea to jump into the fountain. Although it is true that California does not have super cold winters it still gets into the 40's at night. Let's just say that they immediately regretted the decision.

After a change of clothes for the boys we stopped by the after party for a bit to say a few more goodbyes. It was a wonderful evening!

PAMF Goodybes

 After a record number of blog posts (for me) in November I have once again fallen behind. It started to feel overwhelming to get caught up so to delay beginning I began playing Sims 3 the other day instead. If you have never played this game don't start. It is terribly addicting. I'm going to do my best to get these posts done so there may or may not be a lot of detail. (I often say that and then get going so we'll just have to see)

As you may have guessed December has been somewhat of a whirlwind month. So much has happened over the last few weeks and it feels crazy to think about how much our lives have changed in such a short amount of time. For me things really became real as my last day of work at Palo Alto Medical Foundation approached. 

Rowena and Arlene

 After 3 years of working there I had never really bothered taking any pictures. I couldn't leave without trying to get a photo with as many people as possible. 

Marilyn

  It's difficult to get large group shots at work. There is always something going on and you can't always get everyone away from work at the same time. We did our best though.

Hui, Celerina, Rowena, Arlene, and Allison

  On my second to last day my co-workers surprised me with a cake and ice cream reception. I was caught off guard and didn't think to take a picture until after the cake had already been sliced into but you get the idea. 

 The card was signed by all the CLS's as well as the management team. I've worked with such a great group of people and saying goodbye isn't easy.

Rowena, me, Arlene, Allison, and Pat

A few more of us....

And more....

Hui, John, and Melanie

 As if the cake and ice cream reception wasn't enough I was surprised again on my last day of work by the PM shift. By surprised I truly mean surprised. I walked into the break room to have Theresa, one of the lab assistants, jump out and yell 'Surprise'! They enjoyed shocking me and I was blown away by the party. Rowena was the ringleader behind it all at it was quite the feast. Lettuce wraps, cheese and crackers with homemade jam, and much more.

The PM shift gang:
 Hahn, Priscilla, Waffa, Rowena, Bernie,
Celerina, Pat, and Theresa in the front

As my first job out of the CLS program I am grateful to so many people at work who have taught me so much about working in this field.   I will look back on my time at PAMF fondly and I will miss so many great people there.

Bernie, me, and Rowena

  I did have to stop in one more time because I forgot my lunch bag in all the commotion on my last day. It worked out well that I was able to pop my head in on a Saturday to see a few more faces before heading out.

This is the Sunday crew that I would work with every time I worked a Sunday. With fewer people there on the weekend you really get to know each other a little better. I'll never find a Sunday crew quite like this one!

Irina, me, David

 I came in at a great time and got to catch two more CLSs who weren't working during my last week. It still feels strange that I won't be seeing these faces again anytime soon.

Hui, Chris, me, and Marilyn

It still sort of feels like I'm just on a long vacation but I think once we get to Michigan it will sink in that my time at Palo Alto Medical Foundation is over. I'll cherish the memories always. Good luck to everyone!

A Chemistry Christmas

Last Friday was the annual Chemistry Department Holiday Party. I had originally taken the day off with the hopes of attending a Pac-12 championship game. Since that obviously didn't happen I was at least consoled with the fact that we could attend the party. It worked out well giving Kevin a great chance to visit and say goodbye to a lot of people around the department that he doesn't see very often.

The party was also the last evening we were able to spend with Andi before she left for Canada. It has been wonderful getting to know her this past year and I'm sad we wont have more time to continue getting to know each other. 

Kendra, Moria, Brian, and Kevin

It is fun having an excuse to get dressed up. I finally put to use a dress I bought in October.

It is still hard to believe that we are only going to be Californians for a little while longer. We're going to miss so many wonderful people!

Moria, Kevin, Jason, Bettina, and Cara

I thought I took a few pictures of the dance portion of the evening but I apparently didn't. The dancing didn't get started until close to the end of the party but we had a blast. After the party we headed over to Brian and Moria's place to watch the dvd from 'Chemwipes' our first year here.  We enjoyed reminiscing and showing Andi some of Colin's amazing skits that she had only heard about and never seen before. We'll attend our 6th and final 'Chemwipes' this Friday evening before flying out to Michigan this weekend.

Last Month's Rent

Kevin and I were very excited to turn in our last month's rent along with our moving notice. We have been wanting to move out of our apartment for such a long time and it is finally here!

Finally moving!!!!!

December is proving to be an even more frenzied month then November was. Every day we are checking things off of our moving list and then adding something else to do in its place. A lot has to happen in the next two weeks. The movers are picking up our car tomorrow to ship to Kansas. My last day of work is Thursday. Kevin needs to clear out his desk at work (if you've seen it lately that will be no small feat). Kevin and I are headed out to Midland on a red-eye Saturday night and we'll be looking at rental houses and getting Kevin's medical stuff for work taken care of. We come back to California on Tuesday night. We must pack up for Kansas and have everything we'll need for a few weeks put aside so the movers can come next Thursday to pack up all of our stuff. The movers will then load up the moving truck Friday. Next we'll have to finish cleaning to get ready for our move out inspection Saturday. We'll have the rest of the weekend and then we're on a plane (with Lupin....this could be interesting) and making our way to Kansas. I'm exhausted just writing this! 

Last Tailgate

Stanford's final home football game of the year also marked our final Stanford tailgate :( I think I mentioned it in an old post but the tailgates are important to us for more than just football. Six seasons ago it was a way for us to meet new people and make friends that have lasted over the years. We've meet younger students that we may not have spent as much time with or gotten to known. We'll cherish our six seasons and we'll be Stanford football fans for life.

Kevin and Brian 

There have been some amazing tailgates over the years and I think it is incredible how much it has grown from six seasons ago. I'm glad we got to be a part of the transformation and we hope that new students will help keep it alive in the years to come.

Crazy tailgaters!

A couple of final 'Lance Armstrong' rounds for us. We definitely enjoyed winning...I hope they keep playing next year without us initiating it.

Winners!

Holiday Cheer

Since our big move is just around the corner we decided it didn't make sense to put up Christmas decorations this year. I'm sad to not be pulling out our tree and lights but luckily Moria and Brian invited us over to help out. 

With Christmas music going in the background we got their place ready for the holidays!

Brian made us ladies a fancy drink to enjoy after we were done and it made for a lovely afternoon.

Later on Colin and Kevin joined us for Thanksgiving leftovers and we attempted to put a dent in them. We finished off a few things but Kevin and I just polished off the last of the turkey this evening. After dinner we made our way out to San Jose for a movie at the Drive-In. We were early so we killed some time with a little friendly air hockey competition.

Colin beat Andi and I beat Kevin. (granted Kevin scored two points against himself...but a win is a win right?) I'm sure Colin would have annihilated me but we didn't have time to find out. 

Air Hockey Champs

The boys weren't as excited as us ladies were about seeing the latest Twilight movie but they were good sports for the most part. Brian did plan ahead and donned his 'Why am I here?' t-shirt.

Breaking Dawn...Yippee!

It was chilly but we bundled up and enjoyed our outdoor movie experience. The train that passed by part way through was a little distracting but that is the way it goes.

Gobble Gobble!

We have a lot going on this fall but we still wanted to do Thanksgiving at our place since that has been the tradition over the last few years. Kevin took control of the turkey situation and did a fabulous job again. His brine recipe is fabulous and he's really getting it down pat.

Kevin getting the turkey ready for the oven!

We had a good group of people over and it was great seeing Jason. Jason moved up to the city about a year ago and we don't get to see him as often anymore. I think we are going beach camping this weekend though so we'll get some quality time in with him before we go!

It was a really laid back day.  After doing a nice table setting last year I was ready for more of an 'eat off your plate in your lap' setting. No one seemed to mind too much and it was exciting having another Thanksgiving newbie at our place. Andi's first Thanksgiving! Those Canadians don't know what they are missing out on!

We watched football and even broke out a few games. Guesstures was a big hit and we had fun appointing an MVP for each round. (Not always the best player but often the person who looked the dumbest acting something out)

Matt, Dennis, and Daryl chillin' on the couch

Happy Thanksgiving!

Only our second Thanksgiving with Brian and Moria but it feels strange knowing we won't be spending next year with them too.

It was a wonderful day and we are so thankful for all of our friends out her in California. When everyone is so far away from family you really start to depend on your friends. We've been so lucky to have found amazing friends and they will be missed.