First up, captured over my lunch break today, are a pair of Golden Crowned Kinglets. This is the male:

And here is the female:

They are tiny little things, and fast moving. It took a bit of fast-focusing to get these semi-decent shots. The photo of the male is not the clearest, but I like it.

The backyard features a large, 3-story, old pine tree – not too far from the house, which has made it easy for me to pick up a few old hobbies of mine… birdwatching and photography.

Birds fascinate me. Each species has their own interesting traits, characteristics, and migratory patterns. When a new bird appears, it’s a new challenge to pursue. What is it?! Aside from, what Nate would likely confirm as, obsessive observations – I have 2 other tools to help me identify each new bird that makes an appearance. First, is the iBird Midwest iPhone app; second, is my trusty telephoto lens.

Part of the challenge that I enjoy, is getting out my Nikon, hooking up the telephoto lens, and waiting until the bird stops jumping around, or moves into just the right light – allowing me to finally snap a fairly decent photo. It’s like True Detective: Bird Edition. It’s a practice of patience. And it’s something that I do to relax and distract.

Without any further ado, here are a few of the best photos (either aesthetically or just because it’s a cool bird) that I’ve managed to capture over the last 4 months. P.S. I saved the best for last.

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Birds of the Winter
All common visitors, except for the fancy red-bellied woodpecker.
Clockwise from top-left: white breasted nuthatch, slate-colored dark-eyed junco, red-bellied woodpecker, and blue jay.

European Starlings
I don’t know why people dislike starlings so much – just look at that coloring! I swear, Beyoncé probably has a bodysuit that looks just like this…

Tufted Titmouse
Who named this bird? Really? Apparently, the Old English meaning of “titmouse” is small bird, where tit means small. Okaaay.

Red Birds
Red birds are awesomely beautiful, but sometimes it’s just too much… tone it down, guys. That’s why I like female cardinals a bit more. Left: a purple finch among the leaves; Right: a female cardinal.

Magnolia Warbler
This beauty just arrived in the last week and has likely already departed to complete it’s migration to the U.P. or Canada.
It kept pretty high up in the pine tree and jumped from branch to branch pretty quickly – making it a fairly challenging bird to photograph.

Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
And finally, there’s this tiny, little love who came in from migration about a week ago. As you probably guessed, she was also extremely difficult to photograph. Fortunately, they’re pretty fond of perching in thick trees between sips of syrup.

I’ve been saying it for a while now, but 2013 really has been my best year ever. So much has happened. So much has changed. I have changed. I feel like I’m a completely different person than I was one year ago. I don’t think I’d even recognize the me from two years ago. But, I’m very happy with these changes. I’m happy with who I am now. I’m happy with where I see myself going and how I see myself growing. I don’t know why everyone thinks being 20 or 21 is so fantastic. I’m coming on 28 and I’m pretty sure that ~30 is the new 20. Approaching 30 is when you really start to figure it out. Life, that is. You figure out who you really are and what you really want. You start to drop your childish inhibitions, your fears and uncertainties, because you realize that you only get to live this life once – so you’d better cut the crap and get on with it, do it your way, find the happiness you deserve. And that’s what I did this year. And that’s what I plan on continuing to do in 2014.

I’d say my year was pretty well split between work and life, I guess in a way I established that balance everyone is always talking about. So let me now reflect a bit…

Divorce. There, I said it. I got a divorce. I’m not ashamed. I don’t feel like a failure. We did what we had to do and I think we’re both in a better place now, some might disagree, but you can’t please everyone. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it hurt others. Yes, I’m sorry that there was pain involved. But, sometimes you get into relationships because they fill a need, and when you no longer have that need, it might not make sense to stay anymore. The end.

Living on my own again. I’ve lived in four places over the course of the year. We sold the house, neither of us needed it. I lived on an air mattress with a space heater. I lived in a house with a few friends and we threw epic parties. Battleshots, ’nuff said. And then I moved into my own apartment, just me and the Ging. All of this moving forced me to simplify, to get rid of all the baggage I’d been dragging around. And now once again, I’m preparing to move again, and am finding even more things that I just don’t need anymore.

I found confidence. In every way. I started speaking up at work. I started speaking in public. I taught an entire 4-hour workshop for Girl Develop It Detroit. I started sharing my opinions. I started trying to make a difference in the world. I still have a ways to go, I’m still an introvert after all, but I’ve now got a base to launch off from.

I made some of the best friends ever. Mercs-4-eva. And strengthened many existing relationships, namely with my sister, Laurie. I don’t think we’ve ever been closer, it’s pretty cool.

I started a new job and found my place in the development world. I left Quicken Loans in October and started with Articulate, an E-Learning software company. I now work remotely for them, doing frontend work. Over the course of the year, I took a deep dive into the world of Sass, modular CSS architecture, and responsive web design. As with all things in the development business, I still have a ton to learn, but I’m finally happy with what I’m doing and the technologies and areas I’m pursuing. I even received a scholarship from Github to attend OSCON in Portland, and later attended the inaugural SassConf in NYC. OH, AND my open source project, SlickQuiz for WordPress, surpassed 15,000 downloads!

I fell in love again. Truly. Deeply. His name is Nathan. It’s sappy but, all of those romance movies and love songs, they really can happen to you. To find love, you just have to be yourself and start doing the things you love. That’s where you’ll find them waiting for you.

And lastly, because this is already long enough…

I tried roughly 300 unique beers. Which is just freaking awesome.

So here’s to 2013, the best year I’ve ever had. May next year be just as amazing!

Wow, the last few months have been pretty intense for Adam and I. We went to New York City, Adam went to Portland, our summer weekends were packed, and WE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE!!!

That’s right, the day that we left for NYC – we also closed on our new house. We’ve left the dregs of Livonia and have moved to the lovely outskirts of Ann Arbor, in Ypsilanti! It’s a perfect location – SO close to all the awesome things of AA, just down the street from the quaint, hipster downtown of Ypsi, a minute from the main highway (I-94), and in an amazingly awesome neighborhood (coincidentally constructed by a Quicken Loans sister company). It’s in the trifecta of awesome – Ypsilanti location, Ann Arbor schools, and Pittsfield Township taxes. :)

It’s a 2002 colonial model, cathedral ceilings, big kitchen, walk-out basement(!), huge backyard, and so much more. It’s so much of an upgrade from our old house that we can barely believe it’s really ours. The neighborhood has a ton of big, open parks, plus a large wooded park area with a playground, a community pool, plenty of undeveloped lots that make the area seem not very cramped, a variety of wildlife, and friendly, diverse people.

It’s really the best place we could be right now. :)

Here are a few pics of the new place, sorry about the clutter – it’s a work in progress!

Oh, and you might notice, also, that we got a cat!! Her name is Ginger <3

2011 was phenomenal. Insane. Exhilarating. Awesome. Joyful. Busy. Just all around generally incredible.

Probably my favorite year in my <27 years of existence.

Here’s just a few reasons why:

• Marriage – Best day of my life. We did it!! And it was wonderful!! Everything was perfect and beautiful, and everyone had a wonderful time. It couldn’t possibly have been much better. Not to mention our awesome honeymoon in Toronto (blog post coming soon, seriously)!!!!
• Israel – Best week of my life. Adam’s family, the sites, the history, the people, the FOOD!!! Such an amazing experience and SO thankful to have had it!
• Cooking – After returning from Israel and the week long experience of exquisite cuisine, I came back yearning for a healthier, more enjoyable lifestyle. And for me, that started with the abandonment of frozen bag dinners and the purchase of several great cookbooks (which eventually lead to Cuisine Week)!
• Genealogy – In between wedding planning and traveling, I was able to break through a few brick walls, connect with some distant cousins, and I even managed to win the GRAND freaking PRIZE in the Ancestry.com 15 Days of Discovery sweepstakes!! The trip to LA is in just a few weeks!!
• RootsTech – And going along with the genealogy stuff, I had the opportunity to attend the first ever RootsTech conference in February which was an awesome mashup of genealogy and technology. I’m already all booked for the second conference in Feb. 2012!
• CodeMash & An Event Apart (San Francisco) – My first two real web / developer conferences – all thanks to my new(ish) work home – Quicken Loans! These were a lot of fun, a lot to take in, and certainly reinvigorated my profession.

So much awesomesauce in 2011. It’s actually pretty hard for me to imagine 2012 being better than that.

No big life events planned and no super huge crazy travel plans. Just the Ancestry.com trip in January and RootsTech in February – which will both be awesome. After that I’ll be able to actually start conserving my time-off. Maybe towards the end of the year we’ll plan a bigger vacation, who knows what 2012 will bring?!

Time to go work on my list of New Years resolutions!

Very nice. Had to save this one :) Get Your Cyborg Name

Well, maybe I’ll go for more of a tumble log type setup – that way I can be short, sweet and simple.

Then again… how would that be any different from my Twitter account ?

Well, maybe I’ll post soon… maybe not. I make no promises, but I’ll try harder.

Ciao

In it, I discuss the micro-blogging trend and a few different ways that businesses can take advantage of it. Check it out and let us know how you’ve seen micro-blogging used in the business world.

On to the update… It’s been about 5 1/2 months since my last post, I was freelancing then – but now I’ve got a real job – Project Manager at MetaSpring, a marketing, design and development startup studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And awesomely enough, I primarily get to work with Rails! We just launched our redesigned website and blog so please check them out and leave a comment!

Aside from the new job, life’s been normal… Went to California over Thanksgiving with Adam, that was awesome. Christmas, w00t. New Years, woohoo! Work. Work. Work work work. Oh, ..and I’m about to buy a new MacBook (!!!!..sorta..).

This 12” PowerBook G4, God bless its beautiful little form factor, is audible from the opposite end of my apartment. Adam likens the sound of it to that of a dustbuster. And it really is driving me crazy, not to mention it’s way too slow for what I need it to do. So, I have to upgrade. First let me say, I love the MacBook Air body – sleek, sexy, almost weightless. I checked it out in Best Buy last week and it definitely had me salivating…sigh…but it needs more power. So, I’m getting a white MacBook with an upgraded hard drive to match the specs of the default black MacBook (which, by the way, is $100 more than the white with even specs).

If all goes well, I’ll be making that purchase before the end of the weekend :) But now I’m going to bed, and hopefully sleeping off this oncoming cold. Wish me luck!

Hi, how are ya? I’m pretty well. Yeah, I know it’s been a while since you last heard from me, but it’s been a crazy year. I apologize for my absence and promise to remain actively social, at least until grad school…

A rather lengthy update follows the break.

My Last Undergrad Semester Ever

Ok, let me start out by saying: 6 classes = 0 social life. I spent most of my final undergrad semester studying for classes, working on projects, freelancing websites, occasionally attending yoga classes, and looking for that “real” post-college job.

My classes were pretty good for the most part, I learned a bit and was even able to extend Expressive Connections for a final project – the site now features OpenID login and Groups (as well as, On-site Messaging and Networks – contributed by my partner, AJ). Expressive Connections went on to take the Best of Show (Web) award in the 2007 DMAT Showcase in the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at MSU.

Back in February, I launched my portfolio site – JulieMarie.net, as well as my current profession – freelance web development (primarily using Ruby On Rails). At the time, I didn’t plan on freelancing becoming my primary career – but as it turns out, on-site Rails jobs in Michigan are slim, competition is high, and I had less than one year of overall web related experience to work with.

Freelance jobs kept popping up and on-site jobs didn’t. I limited my search to the Southeastern Michigan area because grad school at U of M is also on the list of things to do in the near future. In all the chaos of classes and job searching though, there wasn’t really time to establish Michigan residency (saving me from the fortune of out-of-state tuition), write all the application essays, or take the GRE in time for the Fall application deadline which was in early May. Thus, grad school has been pushed back to the Winter term, application deadline – November 1.

So that brings us to the end of my last undergrad semester. I graduated with Honors and a Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media (or TISM, as it’s more easily referred to) – with a specialization in Digital Media Arts and Technology, focusing on web development.

Post-Grad

With only a week until my lease was up, no on-site job lined up, and therefore no real idea of where to live, I was about this |—-| close to moving to Howell, MI (due to its central location), but instead went to Novi, MI to stay with Adam. While staying there, Adam’s roommate, Matt, got me outrageously addicted to “Battlestar Galactica.” I watched the Mini-Series and all three seasons within about a month and a half. Needless to say, October won’t come soon enough.

I also managed to get some work done in between BSG episodes – created a WordPress Theme (1st time working with PHP) and started work on what currently acts as a CMS designed as a learning aid. I’m fairly excited about the CMS, I was able to build it in Ruby on Rails for the client and I think it turned out really well. Plus if all goes well, it could grow into something pretty cool. Additionally, I took an at-home, part-time job working basically as a User Experience Engineer for a cluster of web hosting sites. The job wasn’t exactly what I was looking for – but it will definitely help out in preparation for grad school

Europe

Yep, I went again. Only for 2 weeks this time. As it so happened, all my talk and excitement about my 6 weeks in Europe last summer excited my mom enough to buy us each a spot on a tour through London, Paris, and Rome (plus Versailles, Assisi, and FLORENCE!). The trip was pretty crazy, a lot of fun, and 12 days to remember. There were nine of us from Chicago, and a group of about thirty from Puerto Rico, and our tour guide, who was from Spain. Ultimately, I think everyone picked up a fair bit of Spanish, a tad bit of French, and a sense of Italian which often came out as a Spanish variant. Click on the city names above to see some of my pictures.

Moving Again

Immediately after my return from Europe, it was time to move again. This time to Farmington Hills, MI – which is right next to Novi. I moved here because my cats, who were staying with a friend while I was in Novi, needed a home and because it’s in an area of high web development activity where I am likely to find some sort of work. Only problem is I don’t yet have internet there, so my freelance business is on hold. On the bright side, I now have time to finally pick up this Beginning PHP and MySQL 5 book.

Future Plans

So what’s next? Well…now that I’ve got my own place I can establish residency, take the GRE, and apply for grad school. If all goes well, I’ll be moving to Ann Arbor in January with my dearest friend and forever roommate, KT. Until then, I’ll continue my freelance work and the search for an on-site job of some kind – preferably working with Rails, of course.