This past month has been quite a busy one, and Dallas and I have barely had time to relax together.  I apologize for the lack of visual stimulation in this post, but we also haven’t had opportunity or reason to take any photos.  With the miserable weather we’ve been experiencing all month, I think we could both use a vacation already!

Dallas started a new job at Brown University in the beginning of March (send him a congratulatory e-mail!).  This is a pretty amazing accomplishment, considering he submitted his application after they had finished interviewing everyone for the position.  The job had been listed since last fall, and they desperately needed to hire someone in Facilities Management.  However, upon receiving his application, they decided that they liked him better than all the previous applicants and asked him to interview almost immediately.  After finally completing the hiring process and training, Dallas will be working part-time with full-time benefits until further notice.

I started a new job at Dash Bicycles as a bike mechanic.  So far I really enjoy working on bikes.  I’m still learning new things every day, and the time seems to go by so quickly, I often forget to eat.  I plan on organizing weekly group rides leaving from the shop once the weather improves.  If you’re in Providence, stop by the shop and sign the e-mail list to be notified when the rides will be!  We’re on Broadway, directly across the street from the Columbus Theatre.

Both Dallas and I have been working at Brown as temporary and part-time research assistants in the computer science department.  We are helping to construct the new virtual reality cave.  This job was only expected to last a few months, but due to continuous challenges, we may be employed on this project through the summer.  There’s already a cave at Brown, but the new one is supposed to be much bigger and better, with high definition.

We are both working at Crossfit Providence in exchange for free gym memberships, which we have been trying to take advantage of 2-3 times per week.  Dallas has been learning capoeira twice a week at Brown.  I have started swimming in the Brown pool.  We haven’t had a lot of nice days to run or bike outside, and Dallas still needs to get a bike since he sold his in California.  We did sign up for the Erie marathon in Pennsylvania in September!

I have started playing in a band!  I picked up the cornet after years of it sitting in my dad’s basement and auditioned as a trumpet player for the What Cheer? Brigade.  To my astonishment, they accepted me (on a probationary period)!  Check out the show schedule to see if you can come hear us play anywhere!

Dallas is looking for people to practice his Spanish with, and he is thinking about organizing a meetup group since the one that had existed in RI seems to have dissolved.  Any locals who already speak Spanish or want to get better at it, get in touch with him!

Adam and I in high spirits before feeling utterly defeated by the cold rain and washed out roads

Yesterday, I almost died of hypothermia while riding my bike in the inaugural Rhodekill Spring Classic bike ride.  Well, not really, but I couldn’t feel my hands or feet for a good portion of the day, which is not okay.  I am ready for winter and cold weather to be OVER, and now that it’s warm enough not to snow, it’s probably going to rain for the next 2-3 months.

We plan on riding in the MS150 Bike Tour that starts in Pawtucket, RI this year in June.  I am getting a bit of a late start on my fundraising, but Dallas hasn’t even registered yet, so he will need help as well!  If you would like to donate to the cause (please do!), go here.  Don’t worry, I will remind you again when it gets closer to the event, and once Dallas has a fundraising page up you can donate to him too (or instead).

The National Bike Challenge starts officially in May, but there is a warm-up round in April.  This is a challenge to encourage people to commute to work and make other trips by bicycle, or just to get out and ride!  There are teams and prizes for people who ride often and/or who ride far.  If you ride at all, sign up and start logging your miles!!!