Salvation

Dear Berkeley,
Thanks for being there when Shannon and I needed you. I am afraid to let you know, I spoke too soon when I said I hated Berkeley. The other day, I met a new side of you. You are like a big Iowa City. You even have the annoying high school kids! Your bums, however, are far more irritating.
Shannon has a friend who's girlfriend lives in Berkeley practically on the UCB campus. The house is amazing. Katie, the girlfriend and housemate, is a cool girl. The house has a room available that was offered to us. We decided last night that we will be living there.
We will have our own bedroom and full bathroom. The living room has a cute dining area, fireplace, and views of the bay to SF. I will post pictures after we move in. That means I will also post pictures from the drive here after I find my USB cord.
San Francisco has failed us, and Berkeley came to the rescue and included some awesome rent. Very doable.

-j

Dear Everyone,
There you have it. We found a place! There is no lease, so if I am not accepted into JFK, we can make possible plans to move to Miami: our destiny. I will have to hold off on owning a dog until then.
Shannon and I are in much better spirits. Thanks to our friends and family for all their support. We love you all. Now to find some jobs...

-j

I'm angry.

Dear San Francisco,
You are kicking my ass, and I don't appreciate it. I feel like you are kicking me around. I feel like each day I wake up and say "Who wants to shit on me? Please! I want you to! I can't take enough of it! Please give me an apartment! I'll give you my first born child!"
I was so excited when I arrived to the city. The food is great. The city is bustling. Everyone is nice. Everything is so cute.
But now, I am mad at you. You are a damned facade. Your landlords take advantage of the tenants and get away with practically murder when it comes to rent.
I have applied to jobs and heard nothing. I have applied for apartments and heard nothing. I feel like my graduate studies interview was not so hot. I was out of it. My answers to questions were not the most outstanding. It is probably detrimental that I want to be a director or event planner rather than a curator.
For excelling in high school, college, and work, to come here has been a slap in the face.
San Francisco, maybe we need to take a break. Maybe we are not working out. We need to talk. Have somebody give me a call. Perhaps a landlord or someone hiring for gallery or museum positions. If not, I might give Miami a call.

-j

made it

Dear Wyoming,

I am sorry to tell you, but you are perhaps the most boring state in America.  I am a machine when I need to drive long distances, but one hour after driving through you, I wanted to fall asleep or die.  The shanty towns are depressing.  You lack actual cities, and your capitol is sad.  I was happy, however, to see a cowboy in a real cowboy hat although he was in a car on his cell phone.  I'm sure he still ropes some steers on his ranch.

Sincerely, 

Jennie

Dear Utah,

Amazing.  That is all I can say about you.  You are so beautiful, and not once was I bored on the drive through you.  Salt Lake City was the highlight of my drive.  The mountains blew me away, and I don't even like snow!  I can see why the mormons like you so much.  You feel so small in those mountains.  I guess I like feeling small.  As Brittany and I would say, you were simply sublime.  Kind of scary, a little moving.  Even the flats were interesting.  

Dear Everyone Else,

We made it.  Nevada was boring, but we did take pictures in Utah and Northern California.  My camera cord is still in the van, so I will post them in the next few days.  Berkeley was freaky.  Too many granola hippies.  There were people actually selling tie-dye shirts on the street also.  I was afraid I made a bad decision to move here, but then we came into the city.  San Francisco is really cool.  It will take us a while to figure out how to get around, but I think Shannon and I will like it.  We checked out two apartments today, and we'll be looking at two tomorrow.  Wish us luck.  It's such a rat race because landlords check your income and credit information along with a bunch of other applicants'.  I also applied for a job at the Asian Art Museum and the Yerba Buena Arts Center.  I also have my interview with JFK on Wednesday.  I'll need good luck wishes for that as well.  

That is enough for tonight.  I promise I will get those pictures posted.  They don't even show how amazing things were in real life.  I recommend Utah to everyone.  The houses and views are mind blowing.  

Love you all!