Viewing 1 - 4 of 4 posts tagged with wisconsin.

20 Jan '12

Opening a New Chapter of Hiking

I was soaked. It was mid-morning, and I was following Bluff Creek downstream trying to find Rock Bluff Falls. The rain had finally stopped a few hours ago, but the twelve hours before that had been a steady downpour. Now the sun was slowly heating the woods into a steaming sauna. Everything around me was dripping, each step stirring more mosquitos and raining more water down on me. One slow mile of wet, mud, and insects was all I could take. I turned back towards the road and my car.

My adventures in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan started just over three years ago. I was living in Houghton and had a simple plan - I wanted to visit every waterfall in the area. This definition was a bit fluid but enough to fill a solid ten months of exploring. Living and working in Houghton meant that I could easily hit up several falls on weekday evenings. Hiking three to four days a week got me in great shape, and the simple goal of finding and documenting waterfalls was enough to keep me moving.

Young Logan at Rice Lake

Young Logan at Rice Lake

Once I moved to ...

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11 Nov '10

Katie and Jake 2010 Move

Katie and I lived with her parents from the summer of 2009. After I lost my job at Michigan Tech they graciously opened up their doors for us until I could get a solid income again. What we hoped would be a several-month period grew to 18 months, since my SparkNET job wasn't enough to afford moving out. I finally got a solid job at DealerFire over the summer with enough income for us to seriously look at moving out on our own.

Living room in our Wheatfield duplex

Living room in our Wheatfield duplex

It was hard to find a place in our price range that was still suitable for two adults and their pets. We spent much of September and October looking at different duplexes in Menasha and Oshkosh, turning one down after another because of location (active train tracks in the back yard is a definite no) or condition (sagging floors is another red flag). We finally got lucky with a place in Appleton - a last minute cancellation, landlord who loves dogs, and decent price for rent all aligned for a small, but relatively modern, duplex on Wheatfield.

Moving happened ...

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26 Aug '09

New Job and Car

The last few weeks have been pretty busy for me. To provide a bit of back story, I've been living in Appleton, WI with my girlfriend's parents working a few different contract jobs since May of 2009. While our income was enough to cover a few bills and loan payments, freelance web development wasn't earning enough to cover moving out, so I started applying for fulltime positions in the local area.

In the beginning of August I headed out east with the Reynolds family for a wedding in Ocean City, WA. This trip involved several incredible dinners and a visit to our nation's capital on top of meeting some of Katie's extended family. Near the end of the trip I received an email about a job offer from De Pere, only twenty minutes from Appleton. SparkNET, the founding company of EzineArticles, wanted me as a web developer, a position I quickly accepted.

I've only been working at SparkNET for a few days now, but so far it seems to be a great fit. The atmosphere is very welcoming and open, ...

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1 May '09

Moving to Wisconsin

After losing my job at Michigan Tech and testing out the job market in Houghton for a month, Katie and I decided that it was time to move. Several options presented themselves, including Seattle and Chicago, where friends offered free housing for several months until jobs and permanent housing could be found. We decided to move to Appleton, WI with Katie's parents after much discussion.

Over the last several years of dating Katie, we had visited her parents plenty of times both before and with Logan. Not only did we enjoy our time in Appleton, but they were very understanding of our relationship and current position. Also, even though I had applied to plenty of job opportunities across the nation, the only interviews and interested companies I had contact with where in the Milwaukee and Green Bay area. It made sense to move to a familiar location that seemed promising for a future career.

I did have some hesitations on moving to Wisconsin, mostly because I was raised in Michigan. I don't know many people or attractions within the ...

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Viewing 1 - 4 of 4 posts tagged with wisconsin.