Week 13?

 Hey everybody! 

I am so bad about remembering to actually post my blogs so there's a lot to catch up on! I was out sick for a week so there's going to be a weird gap in time, but it's all mostly there.

The parks project I've been working on since I've been here is moving rapidly. We're going through a round of SD right now and working with the cost estimator again (likely going to be sifting through all that next week yay!). We had a meeting with the community task force for one of the parks a few weeks back and that went really well. They had taken a stab at trying to sketch up what they think the park should be like and it was fairly similar to what we had drawn up for them and honestly I'll gladly take minor changes and positive feedback with community meetings. Our surveyor for this project has decided they don't reallyyy want to actually do their job so we are doing our best to manage with what we've got from them but as my PM put it "these surveys suck." It's been nice working on a project so consistently and getting to see it go through the a lot of the process and how much back and forth there really is between clients, communities, and us. 

The inn I've been working on went under construction this week!! That was crazy to see pictures of honestly and am highly anticipating the trip up there (it's in New Hampshire) to go see it and supervise planting. We ordered the pavers for them today and are working on the planting plan this week/beginning of next so we're moving right along. This one will really be interesting because I will likely be able to see it fully done before I leave since they're wanting to be done by mid-June at the latest. If that's the case, I'll obviously take a bunch of pictures and might remember to share them. 

In even more exciting news - our website launched (soft launched, but it is pretty much redone). It's looking soooo much better than the old one and by the day since changes are still being made, but it's been such a fun adventure in addition to the actual landscape architecture. A bit stressful that I am responsible for the rest of the standard changes for the time that I'm still here, but it seems very straightforward and I'm looking forward to having a new skill! 

In addition to my three main projects, I've been assisting as needed on random ones. Couple of quick photoshop renderings, couple of presentation updates. Today I got thrown into one that was a sketchup model and I would just like to reiterate how much I dislike sketchup. But I got through it in 5 hours and it's (hopefully) done with. 

On a life note - the weather is warm here now!! At least warmer and for the time being, but warm enough for the plants to start to bloom and get their leaves back which has brought the life back into me and the city. You would never know that people actually live in this city in the winter because of how few people you see out and the difference in a week has been astronomical. If you're in the need of a book recommendation - Earth Keeper Reflections on the American Land by N. Scott Momaday is very insightful and well written. Very quick read, but very pleasant. 

This was a long one, but there was a lot to cover. 

Madison