Drewlyn

With Lyndsey out of the country in South Africa I feel a lot of pressure to keep the blog going! It's only the second week and I don't want to slack on our goal of one post per week. Work is amping up here and that is the typical pattern of university counseling center work: a few weeks of quiet that pick up as midterms arrive, chaos between midterms and finals, and then being able to hear a pin drop during finals week. At Stanford they have a culture-based syndrome called "The Stanford Duck Syndrome" where students like to present as collected, calm, and capable on the surface, but their little duck legs are working double time under the water to keep the duck afloat. It's been interesting to watch.

I also wanted to give some background on the origin of the name "Drewlyn." It may seem obvious to a modern reader, but it actually was a bit of a mistake. First, you should know, growing up, until the very end of high school, I went by "Andrew" rather than "Drew." In high school, a few friends started calling me Drew and I felt like it fit, so in college I began introducing myself as Drew and asked my family and friends to try to transition. I still answer to Andrew, but it takes me a second to remember to answer to that name. (As a sidenote, Lyndsey used to call me "And," which I always liked, but it was also confusing because of how frequently the word "and" is used in everyday conversation).

When we were small and our mom had to address the children as a unit she would often call us 'Lyndrew.' This name makes sense because both names share the n-d combination and it follows our birth order. I can't recall the times it was commonly used, but I feel like written communication was often shortened to Lyndrew. How endearing, you might think, as you envision these Children-of-the-Corn blond siblings answering to a single name.

Well, along comes the advent of the internet with dial-up modems and when everyone had America Online to connect to the world wide web. And one day Scott tells us we are getting the internet and he will set it up for us. And, oh the thrill of the internet! Who knew the untold joy that might come from being able to connect with information and people from around the world. (Who knew how dependent on the internet we would become -- I've already checked my several key email accounts several times since starting to write this blog...). So, I remember how proud Scott was to have set up the account and have us on the internet and we run to the computer to see our very first screen name:

DREWLYN.

"Drewlyn...?? Dreeewling?! Droolin'?!! That's not our nickname! Our screenname means we have drooling problems!" No appreciation for the hard work involved, just shock that we would have to email everyone from a capitalized name that reminds everyone of salivation! Oh, the dismay I'm sure we displayed. (Sorry, Scott, we were brats.)


But somehow, we forged ahead and we able to develop our own screennames, but DREWLYN remained the "master account" and somehow stuck with us. And it was the only name that seemed to fit when we were looking to name the sibling + dog blog.

San Francisco Adventures

I moved to San Francisco almost two months ago and I am amazed at how much I am loving life. When I moved to Santa Barbara from DC five years ago, I always assumed I would return to the East Coast after grad school -- so much so that I referred to my time in California as my "Study Abroad." And even if coming to SF wasn't part of my plan and DC has always felt like home, I am really pleased with my work, life, social, well-being balance in the city by the bay. My apartment is beautiful and on top of Potrero Hill with beautiful weather and views of the city and the Bay Bridge; my commute via train to Stanford takes about an hour door-to-door and I get to watch the sunrise every morning from it; and I feel good about the friends, old and new, that have been in my life since moving.

I'm glad Lyndsey spearheaded this idea to have a brother-sister-bicoastal-blog together and keep in touch with friends and family this way. It will be a fun way to connect our family that spans the country! Here are some pictures of my life in SF:

Here is the 22nd Street Station where I catch my morning train. It's about 2.5 blocks from my apartment and is under the freeway! I try not to think about what would happen in an earthquake...



This is the tower on Stanford's campus. This is the view from the front of my building, Vaden Student Health Center, where Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is located.


One view from my backyard! Potrero Hill is the best neighborhood in the city -- it's clean and quiet and cute. It has access to everything you want, but is like a suburb in the city.

This is me and my favorite nephew, Huxley, from my last trip to DC.

The idea.

Life is sweet. More and more I realize how lucky and privileged I am. Particularly as I barrel towards turning thirty I have been feeling an urge to record and share bits of my life with others. For me my thirties seem incredibly exciting. I know it will be a time in my life where everything will change in such significant and wonderful ways.

Despite this strong desire to document these changes - I do know myself well and know I might not quite have the commitment to regularly post. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a blog hosted by two siblings living on opposite coast and I thought it might be the ideal solution. Blogging with Drew would be the perfect way to share each of our adventures with friends, family, and those who love us. I cant promise updates everyday, or even every week - but my hope is to create a space for us both to share the awesome things in our lives and a few of the twists and turns around the way.

I will probably take a look back on the past year as well. So many amazing things have happened that should be shared. I'm looking forward to posting about Huxley and his brushes with death, Obama being elected, world travels, amazing DC experiences and falling madly in love.

So keep us accountable and check in when you can!

Enjoy,
Lyndsey